Oprah and friends lend star power to charities

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Charity organizations across the country say they are hurting from a recession-fueled decline in donations.

Oprah and her celebrity friends used their star power to help revive ten different charities in New York City this week.

According to a recent GuideStar poll on donation trends, charitable contributions dropped for 52 percent of donors in the last twelve months.

That didn’t stop more than 10,000 women, men, and children from taking the right steps at the O Magazine: Live Your Best Life Walk.

WATCH THIS VIDEO ON OPRAH WALKING FOR CHARITY
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Many of the walk participants proved that giving back is not all about the monetary donations.

Naisha Connie Greene, a walk participant, suggests, “just giving your time, even if you don’t have the finances…give your time. If there’s a skill that you know you can teach it to somebody else, you can volunteer.”

Many students, who are a core group affected by this economy, discussed how they give back to their community. Inner city student, Chelsea West, is part of an Ambassadors Club in her school. “We go to different schools and speak to the schools. We tell them that there is hope,” she says.

Oprah says she is living proof that you get back what you give to others, so the talk show queen gave all of the walk participants a surprise performance by Jennifer Hudson.

In this economy, Oprah helped prove that money is not the only thing worth giving.