If you haven’t heard, which is highly unlikely if you live in a PowerBall Lottery state, the jackpot is over $500 MILLION tonight. I am not even sure I could write that many zeros! Of course we got a few tickets, I mean, ‘what if?’ Seriously, what if??
My husband Shane and I even did a little visualization of what we would really do with that much money. We decided we would donate our 10% tithe to Catholic Charities…giving God his portion while also allowing good work to be done. (Catholic Charities is an amazing organization that while faith-based does not push religion, but rather reaches out to all through the love of Christ. They also happen to serve our local community which is very important to us.) Then we checked off a list of people who we would make millionaires – that was fun! Not just family and close friends, but also that chance to reward people who have influenced us and didn’t even really know it. Then we listed where we would have homes – this was fun. Shane picked New Orleans (of course) and Alaska. I picked Colorado and Hawaii. Then we decided we would set up estates for our kids, with the condition that they can’t access the money until they graduate from college. FINALLY a way to get them through school…..true bribery! Then we got to the fun part….how we would make this world a better place with that much money.
Shane and I are passionate about finding a way to one day do ‘something’ to create more services and better access for homeless people and families, or better yet, create an opportunity to help people before they become homeless. For those who don’t know our story, Shane was homeless when I met him, living in his car. I didn’t know it right away, and when I found out, it changed my perspective on everything I thought I knew about homelessness. In small communities, there are NO resources for people who fall on hard times. With shelters and soup kitchens 50+ miles away, how do the destitute get to any help? We have a few ideas of what could help, based on personal experiences, but the thought of having a funding source to actually DO something almost brings tears to my eyes. Shane and I love working with our hands so we know we would like to start an effort to teach the homeless a new skill and then perhaps offer the outlet for them to sell their hand-works and create a source of income. All while providing shelter, food, clothing and education and family support based in rural communities.
Ok – we are WAY ahead of ourselves, but my point tonight is what would YOU do with $500 million? And how would you use that much money to change the world? That much money could indeed change the world for quite a few people….imagine the possibilities.
Off to see if we are the lucky winners! If so, I can’t wait to share the rest of our plan with you! 🙂
Purdy Creative 