And the Winner is……Jan Sherrell!
by Jan Sherrell
It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.
– Tom Brokaw
I’ve recently been thinking about what a burden it would be to win the lottery or to have been born with a silver, diamond studded spoon. No, really! Surely the newness of being really rich would wear off. You would become suspect of the motive of everyone around you. Wouldn’t there come a point when I have bought enough shoes that the thrill of the hunt is gone? Travel would lose its draw over time. Eventually my mind would turn toward others. What good can I now do with all this richness?
To be crazy rich- what would that be like? It could be a real burden. It would be important to me to really accomplish something. I could, of course, form another nonprofit like tons of well-meaning folk do. A nonprofit sporting my name doesn’t really appeal to me, though. Digging in and really determining what could make a difference in my community or even the world (if I go with the super crazy, stupid rich) is not a simple task. I am not a talker either, I’m a doer. So it would be a challenge for me to slow down, study some issues, learn much and develop a strategy. I’d definitely bring in people smarter than me.
Would I have to narrow down into one goal and fund initiatives around it so that you could see and measure a change? Or would I fund lots of interesting, proven initiatives, sharing the wealth across a gamut of needs? See what I mean about the burden it would be? Someone always has an opinion on what you did or did not fund. Being generous can be criticized if it doesn’t agree with someone else’s agenda. Careful what you wish for. Winning that lottery may not be nirvana.
Metro United Way isn’t super crazy rich. But our work is supported by the resources given us. We take time to study the community, to know the issues, to listen to the experts. We are striving toward naming goals, setting strategies and objectives to get us there.
To give money is an easy matter and in any person’s power, but to decide to whom to give and how much and when and for what purpose and how, is neither in every person’s power, nor an easy matter.
–Aristotle
Just because these quotations both point out it is hard work to determine where to put your resources, it shouldn’t stop you from going ahead and giving and trying to change things for the better. Hmm, guess I’d have to really buy a ticket before I need to worry about being super, crazy rich from winning the lottery.