That was the quote from Todd Graves, CEO of Raising Cane’s, from the Fox TV show Secret Millionaire. I would have missed except for the fact that our local paper ran a story about it yesterday. The premise is that a millionaire gives up their life for week and go work a minimum wage job.  During that time they form relationships with the community and at the end of the experience, they must choose someone from the community who will receive $100,000.

Todd and his wife Gwen rose to the challenge.  They served an area still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.  The newspaper said that one day he and his wife worked at a restaurant, although the TV episode didn’t show it, as well as many other places (for those of you who don’t know, Raising Cane’s is a restaurant, a rather amazing one that I will miss when I move away from Baton Rouge!).

At the end of the show the Graves gave away close to $400,000 dollars in the community they worked in.  If you are interested, you can go here to learn more or see the episode. You can even get in on the giving action here.

The Graves seemed pretty clueless at the start of the show. In one clip they go shopping, which seems to be difficult for people who have a personal shopper who does that for them.  The total comes up to a whopping $98, leaving them with on $17 for the rest of the week, forcing them to have to put items back.

It was a reality check, maybe the most real one of any reality TV show. I admire the Graves, for their willingness to step out of their comfort zone.  I think it will also be exciting to see what happens with the people who were on the receiving ends of those checks (you can track each of them here).

Must of us don’t have a TV show that can be used to get the word out about things like poverty, the HIV crisis, poor drinking conditions for 1.1 billion people in world, or a number of other issues.  But we can do something.  My question is, what are you doing?

Tags: Ministry, Plaquamines Parish, Poverty, Raising Cane's, Secret Millionaire, Social Issues, Todd Graves