Oprah Really Gives Out

By Stephen M. Silverman

11/20/1997 at 12:00 AM EST

Oprah Winfrey opened up her checkbook yesterday and wrote out a big one. She donated $10 million to A Better Chance, an organization that places gifted minority students in some of the nation's top public and private high schools. The gift, which drew a standing ovation for the Big O, was unexpectedly made at the group's awards luncheon in New York.