NEW YORK'S STEPHEN PALETTA WINS $1 MILLION ON "OPRAH'S BIG GIVE," AND EVERYONE GOES HOME A WINNER

Across the Country, "Oprah's Big Give" Challenges Result in Nearly $4 million in Donations to Organizations and People in Need in Communities Across the U.S.

New York-based contractor and father of three Stephen Paletta, 43, was awarded $1 million in last night's season finale of the hit ABC series, "Oprah's Big Give."

Paletta completed challenges in eight episodes of the series, ranging from giving away $100,0000 over 24 hours to helping grant the last wishes of two terminally ill parents, and he was the unanimous choice of "Oprah's Big Give" judges Jamie Oliver, Malaak Compton-Rock, and Tony Gonzalez.

Paletta beat out competitors Brandi Milloy, 24, a pageant queen from Sierra Vista, Arizona and Cameron Johnson, 23, an entrepreneur from Roanoke, Virginia, to win the title of Biggest Giver in the season finale. After announcing his win, Winfrey then told Paletta he could use $500,000 for himself, and the other $500,000 to give back.

Said Paletta, "I'm in shock. It was such an incredible honor and privilege to be part of this show and to be chosen as the Biggest Giver with all these wonderful people."

Runners-up Milloy and Johnson also went home winners, each receiving $100,000. In a surprise twist, the remaining of the original ten contestants, including Rachael Hollingsworth (Los Angeles, CA), Kim Prentiss (Brentwood, TN), Eric Klein (Los Angeles, CA), Carlana Stone (Glendale, CA), Angelo Adams (Ann Arbor, MI), and Marlene Snipes (Chicago, IL), each received $30,000 from the production and special guest Jennifer Aniston.

Aniston's appearance followed those by other celebrity guest stars during the series' run, including John Travolta, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Donald Trump, Natalie Cole, Gayle King, Danica Patrick, Andre Agassi and Tony Hawk.

Throughout the course of the series, ABC asked its affiliates to give back to their local communities, providing each with $10,000 of seed money. Ninety ABC stations have spread the spirit of the "Big Give" by raising nearly $4 million in donations to organizations and people in need in communities across the U.S. From over $1 million raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana for a new series of community trails, to a peanut butter drive in Dallas, Texas that resulted in nearly 10,000 jars of peanut butter to help feed those in need, the spirit of the "Big Give" was evident.

Last's season finale of ABC's "Oprah's Big Give" dominated the 8:00 o'clock hour, beating its closest competitors by 3.2 million viewers and by 39% in Adults 18-49.

Executive Producers of "Oprah's Big Give(tm)" include: Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Rakieten and Harriet Seitler from Harpo Productions and Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri -- from the five-time Emmy Award-winning series, "The Amazing Race."