Part-time Maui residents Gregory Ruzicka and his son, Cole, who also live in swanky Newport Beach, Calif., exchanged their comfortable lifestyle for a dose of the nation's tanking economy as participants on the new Fox reality show "Secret Millionaire."

The show, which premieres tomorrow with a segment on the Ruzickas, sends millionaires into impoverished communities where they are told to immerse themselves in the everyday struggles of some of the nation's poorest citizens. At the end of each episode, the millionaire writes a deserving new friend a check for $100,000.

The Ruzickas were sent to live in Imperial Beach in San Diego County.

Father and son learned to panhandle. They hitchhiked for the first time. They lived on a welfare-level income for a week — $150 for the two of them — and found construction jobs in the classified section of the local newspaper.

It was quite a change for Gregory Ruzicka, a 52-year-old founder and managing partner of the Irvine, Calif., law firm Ruzicka & Wallace LLP, a principal broker of RS&W Realty Inc., and an owner of Island Spirit Yoga Studio and Sportswear in Lahaina. And for his son, 23, a college student who played guitar for tips at Imperial Beach pier.

By the end of the week, they had 71 cents left.

"Secret Millionaire" will air at 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout December.