Dear Reader:

So you didn’t win the Powerball Jackpot.

The recent epidemic of Powerball Fever had many of us, gamblers and non-gamblers alike, lining up to buy tickets against clearly ridiculous odds. It was the triumph of fantasy over realism, to be sure. Each of us, as we succumbed to the mania, said to ourselves, “Well, what if I did win all that money? What would I do?”

As the jackpot grew, we faced the obvious fact that we couldn’t—not to mention, shouldn’t – think of spending only on ourselves. For many Powerball “investors,” this led to the question of how we’d use those riches to improve the world. We’d cure homelessness, help kids go to college, start a dance troupe that performed in public spaces. Imagining untold wealth let us daydream about doing good for countless others. We didn’t win, of course, but our experiment in philanthropy wasn’t for naught. Let’s hold on to our visions of how we can give, even in amounts smaller than $1.5 billion, instead of shredding them with the losing Powerball tickets. Maybe, just maybe, the fantasy itself is the payoff for us and for our communities.

Amy

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Amy Segal Shorey, a senior consultant at GMA, wrote this note to the readers of the Boston Globe on the morning after the $1.5 billion Powerball drawing. She can be reached at ashorey@gmafoundations.com