Another huge lottery purse out there. What would you do with a half-billion dollars? Where would you start?
When there’s no worry about your own needs, or those you love, it seems likely one would think of a legacy. A full time job that would be, too. And again I’m thinking of helping in a small way the same things I would be the grand patron of, were I the prize winner.
What are your imaginings?
If I had been so lucky, I think I would need to start by thinking about how I could do the most good. Now here in the U.S., the traditional big beneficiaries of philanthropy tend to be religious and educational institutions. Now I’m all for supporting my church and my alma mater, but I could not make these two my biggest beneficiaries. Would they truly do the most good, when their populations served already enjoy some level of privelege?
So where does that leave me to start? First, probably with charities working with the most under-resourced and vulnerable outside the United States. In the Western Hemisphere that would need to include Haiti. Next, I might move on towards one or two domestic causes that I feel passionately in: marriage equality, family planning, and/or Native American economic development. After that I might consider a special donation to Alice Lloyd College – an Appalachian work-college that I already donate to. ALC offers tuition free higher education to people in certain counties of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia.
And only then would I feel inclined to move on towards my church and my own college.