When Dani Johnson was sent to Knoxville, Tenn., for a week to do an episode of the feel-good reality show "Secret Millionaire," she was given $40 to live on, a beat-up car and a dirty apartment, and told to go find some good to do.
She lived in a high-crime area during her stay. "Going anywhere without my husband is always a safety issue for me," she said. "Being in that neighborhood is not foreign to me ... I have worked with the homeless before. I have cut their hair. I have trimmed their nails. I have washed their feet."
Her mission was to find unsung heroes in the community and help them out - first as a volunteer, and then, at the end of the week, with her own money. A best-selling author, radio-show host, motivator and philanthropist, Johnson, who grew up poor, neglected, abused and was once homeless, is now worth millions. To explain why she had cameras on her while shooting "Secret Millionaire," Johnson told everyone she was working on a documentary about volunteering.
"Secret Millionaire" (premiering 8 p.m. EST Sunday, ABC) dispatches the rich into a community where they've never been and are told to help the needy. The wealthy keep their true identities a secret until near the end of filming.
Johnson went to work at the Love Kitchen, which feeds the poor; Special Spaces, helping to renovate bedrooms for terminally ill children; and the Joy of Music, a school encouraging inner-city child musicians. Johnson also befriended a down-on-its-luck family, whose daughter has leukemia.
She wandered through neighborhoods and talked to strangers about the community. By networking, she came upon the nonprofit organizations she worked for.
Not knowing her at all, the organizations were happy just to have an extra pair of hands. When she revealed herself later, they were shocked.
"Little Dani would do anything we asked her to do," says Helen Ashe, 82, who co-founded the Love Kitchen 25 years ago with twin sister Ellen Turner. "She was over there mashing potatoes. She'd cook. She'd clean. She did anything.
"We couldn't believe a millionaire would come and work like she did. We didn't know who she was."
It turns out, "she was a blessing," Ashe says.
Johnson donated tens of thousands of dollars to each organization, basing her financial gifts on how much need she saw.
The "Secret Millionaire" experience has stayed with Johnson more than six months after she shot it.
"What has changed in me is the passion for (volunteer) mobilization," she says. "It's gone to a whole other level. It's gone to a passionate, passionate level."