Geraldo Rivera raised more money for Life’s WORC during the latest episode of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” winning almost $300,000 as a team leader.
The broadcast journalist’s team, Vortex, won two challenges during the Jan. 12 episode of the NBC reality competition show.
After the men’s and women’s teams competed against each other to create a four-page fitness advertorial for Cosmopolitan magazine, host and judge Donald Trump switched up the teams.
Rivera, as a project manager for the new Vortex, had a chance to win money for his cause during a fundraising challenge where the contestants had to open a bridal boutique.
Both teams raised an impressive amount of money, totaling almost $600,000, with a $2,500 difference between the two. Before finding out who won, Rivera and the other team leader, Ian Ziering, decided to each keep their own team winnings, rather than having the winning team leader take all the money.
“If the money was going to Ian, I would roll the dice,” Geraldo said, adding that since the money is for Ian’s charity, “It would be a reckless ego play for me to go for the whole thing, even though I am confident that we won.”
Though they decided to keep their own winnings, Vortex defeated Infinity by totaling $294,780 to their opponent’s $292,547.
On the show, each celebrity contestant has the opportunity to compete for the charitable organization they choose. Before the Jan. 12 episode, Rivera had earned nearly $280,000 for Life’s WORC.
Established 44 years ago by The Queens Courier newspaper publisher Victoria Schneps with help from Rivera, Life’s WORC provides services to some 1,400 people with developmental disabilities in eastern Queens, Nassau County and western Suffolk. The agency is based in Garden City.
Rivera, known for his advocacy of the developmentally disabled community from the time when he worked as an investigative reporter at WABC-TV Channel 7, has demonstrated loyal, steadfast support for Life’s WORC throughout his career.
Life’s WORC founder and board member Victoria Schneps urges everyone in the developmentally disabled and autistic communities to watch future installments of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” airing Mondays at 8 p.m.
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