The news report I just saw said the one public winner so far took a lump sum, which came to $88m, which, after taxes, comes to $60m. That's a million dollars a year for sixty years, and he's already 45, so probably more years than he's going to live.
On a news report here in Washington, D.C., someone talked about helping the homeless. I've always had that idea, and while walking home after buying my ticket last night, I wondered what kinds of things I could or would do if I won the full $425 million.
One of my dreams would be to buy a bunch of homes throughout the city and rent them out to people who have lived their whole lives in apartments; public housing to be specific.
I'd love to be able to give people in my neighborhood opportunities; either by doing repairs on their homes or - now that I think of it - offering them educational or training opportunities, be they children, young adults, or parents and or senior citizens. It would be an amazing experiment to offer an entire low-income neighborhood assistance or opportunities to unlock their potential and see how it changes their lives. Opening them up to all kinds of education - scholastic or vocational - and giving them fulsome support in those fields and then watching to see if their lives follow the track similar to those students who receive similar support by virtue of birth or environment.
