"Powerball winners give $6,000 to homeless"

[pointblank]

LINCOLN, Neb. - Three of the meat-processing plant workers who won the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history dropped in on a homeless shelter with a $6,000 donation for people living there.

Alain Maboussou, Quang Dao and Dung Tran became multimillionaires in February when they and five co-workers won the $365 million Powerball jackpot.

On Tuesday, the three made a surprise visit to People's City Mission and announced the donation, equal to about $40 per person once distributed.... (emphasis added)

more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12166801

Oh and in other news...

I DROPPED THE 50 CENTS CHANGE I RECEIVED INTO THE "HELP FIGHT MUSCULAR DISTROPHY" BOX AT MY LOCAL 7-11 STORE AFTER BUYING A BEEF JERKY AND A SLURPEE

:wtf:

I mean, really...its a nice gesture and all that these guys gave some money to the poor...but they just won 365 MILLION FUCKING DOLLARS and they give 6 GRAND or 40 BUCKS a person to a homeless shelter in Lincoln NB...ooooooohhhhhhh WOOPTY FUCKIN DOO...LETS WRITE A NEWS STORY ABOUT IT.:crazy:

I'm sorry, but I ain't impressed. Maybe they are giving more money to charity, who knows...but as far as I'm concerned they are some cheap, ungrateful bastards if this is the extent of it...I mean it literally is like me dropping 50 cents into a charity box.

Think about it.

maybe I'm just bitter, but I had to let it out after reading that one. I think its the combination of the shitty media we have in this country and the fact that it isn't me that won the 365 million. :P

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Hey Big Spenders!

How about a cool mill? You'll never notice it.

[Wabbajack]

2. A little is better than nothing

[pointblank]

5. I see your point...

But I say BAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

fucking 6 grand????

The way I figure it, these guys walked away with at least 60 million each after taxes and if they took the lump pay out...not too shabby.

Its the little things that get me going...

[DS1]

3. What makes you so sure they didn't give 6 Grand to 100 other organizations

Love the conclusion-jumping going on here :eyes:

[pointblank]

9. Yea well

until I see the newstory about it, I am ASSuming that this is it.

You see, I used my "Jump to Conclusions Mat" to come up with this. ;)

[babylonsister]

4. pointblank...

:rofl: :applause:
I imagine they will probably donate money anonymously to a charity of their choosing, but your presentation is :spray:

[Chico Man]

I think they mean $40 per homeless person

Not $40 per powerball winner.

I think it is a kind gesture. Hopefully they keep giving.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

6. They Weren't Obligated Whatsoever, So Anything They Gave Is Appreciated

I'm sure. Of course, we can judge them and say "hey, they won so much, they could've afforded more than that", but they aren't obligated to do so just because they won the money. Something is better than nothing, and who's to say they won't be doing more in the future.

[pointblank]

17. Fair enough, they arent obliged..you're right

but at the very least it isn't newsworthy.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

41. Shit, On That Point I Agree 100%!

[MissB]

7. They are hopefully being guided by sound financial planners

on how not to blow the cash in the first couple of years.

They stayed at that shelter once. I think it was a nice gesture.

[Dead_Parrot]

8. Compare and contrast:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3626969a28,00.html

Investment adviser Gareth Morgan tells people what to do with their millions, but in a clear case of "do as I say, not as I do" he's giving away $47 million to charity.

The economist and Dominion Post columnist has decided to put his money where his heart is and give away the windfall he made when son Sam sold the Trade Me internet auction business to Fairfax for $700 million.

Despite his day job, Mr Morgan said he and wife Jo had decided their hefty payout was too much to manage.
...
The most difficult part would be deciding which charities to donate to, he said. The couple would set up a foundation to administer the money, which would be carved up among several existing charities.

[pointblank]

13. Yup

THATS newsworthy IMO.

I mean 500 grand to a worthy charity...100 grand even...sheesh.

[philosophie_en_rose]

10. I think it's sweet.

I think it's more than the people would have recieved if the donors had made a huge donation to the organization.

I think that they know what it's like to work hard and have little. They have their whole lives to give money. It sounds like they made a spontaneous gesture, and that the people at the shelter appreciated the money.

[pointblank]

14. I'm not trying to make enemies here

but anyone who doesn't find this at least a little perturbing is flat wrong here, I'm sorry.

Just a little healthy debate to end my stress filled day! :hi:

[philosophie_en_rose]

48. oh no! I didn't mean it as an attack.

I think that it's important to give back, too. However, I also can imagine a factory worker suddenly gaining so much money and then deciding to spontaneously stop into a shelter and donate money directly to people who need it.

:shrug: If the lotto winners never give another dime to anyone, I'd be right with you. But giving in small ways does help.

Not every big donation is publicized. I put my change into the "take a penny" cups at the gas station. I'd be pathetic, if I thought that it made me a big philanthropist. However, giving in small ways doesn't mean that I don't give other places.

[seabeyond]

11. divide in half for taxes, half of that for instant cash, then divide by 3

a little over 30 million each, wink

but still...... 6,000.... what each gave two grand?

[crimson333]

32. they got 15.5 million a piece after taxes.

[Demit]

12. Okay, in pointblank's world, what's the amount they should have given?

[pointblank]

24. Oh, I dont know

maybe a million each? My world is a bit warped though.

[matt819]

15. Here now the numbers

$365,000,000

9 winners

$40,555,555 per winner gross

Less 50% in taxes

$20,277,777 per winner net

Not bad for guessing some numbers

And now for their charitable contribution

$6,000 total contribution

$666 contribution per person

That $666 represents roughly 0.0000333 of each winner's net

Seems pretty chintzy, but I'm not all that good with numbers. So let's make it a little more realistic. Let's say you take home $35,000 a year. If you were generous enough to make a charitable contribution of the same percentage, you would be writing a check for $1.16.

As one poster observed, they might be making other donations, which is great. But I don't see anyone writing stories about dropping that 50 cents into the box at the 7-11 checkout counter.

[sui generis]

28. eh, numbers

the real conversion factors to .34 * gross after lump sum, so they've got a wopping 13.8 million.

Investment rule of thumb says, buy your nice things once and hold on to them for a while; i.e., nice house, car, etc., and invest the rest. Only spend the remaining 3% gain on your principle so assuming they kept a million for mad money and invested 12 million, their annual "safe take" is about $360K a year without impacting their principle, and they're paying capital gains and income tax on that, depending on how it's invested and materialized.

I can think of twenty charities right off hand I'd give $6K to, which amounts to about $120K to give, and perhaps if I were feeling generous I'd give more to fewer charities more often. I sure as heck couldn't do anything about the cameras following me around to see whether they could ridicule or laud my every move; so in the end, they helped some people, which is better than not doing it at all.

Money is a mind altering substance, whether you have any or not.

[crimson333]

31. they got 15.5 million a piece after taxes.

maybe they were walking by and that was all the money they had in their pocket that day?

[Swede]

16. Good for them.

It's not like they are leaving the planet and won't do more.

[pointblank]

20. OK

lets see it then.

If I were living in a homeless shelter and then won that amount of money, i sure as hell would have given a lot more than 6 grand...its called empathy.

[Warpy]

18. For two million dollars, chump change to any one of those three,

they could have set up an investment plan that would pay the shelter ten times that much every year. In fact, decent blue chip investments would pay more than that most years. That could make the shelter independent of some of the weasels they'd like to shed, and it could also pay for improvements like cubicles around the cots that would drastically cut the transmission of diseases like TB, which spreads like wildfire in dormitory style conditions.

I guess they haven't had time to talk to financial planners as yet. One could have told them how easy it is to set up a foundation just for that purpose, how easy it is to manage it, and how good it looks on yearly income taxes.

I inherited enough money to last me until social security kicks in. I've already been giving it away when it's over and above what I need per month. I just hope I can keep doing so.

The best part of sudden wealth is the ability to be generous, IMO. You can only be in one room at a time in one house at a time and you can only drive one car at a time and they'll all get you there if they're in decent repair. Generosity, however, is like ripples on a pond. You never know when one will come back your way in the future.

[redwitch]

27. Want to put a bass player through college?

:P I promise when he graduates you'll have front row seats to all his concerts! Oh, and free CDs too! Hubby and I have already figured we'll travel around with the T shirt concession, so we can give you those too! :yoiks:

As to the original post, I would bet that they are not stopping with the six grand. I hope they have sound financial advice and they can give to lots of good causes over the years. I also think that these people probably have a hard time going to the grocery store w/o it being news. I wonder if they are tired of it yet? I'll take rich and anonymous over rich and famous any day!

[Warpy]

37. Not only that, but every relative and old school acquaintance

is now crawling out of the woodwork, hands outstretched.

As for the bass player, 'fraid you're out of luck. I don't have that kind of money.

Besides, I did concert lighting for too many years. The thrill is SO gone.

[redwitch]

39. He is having a ball.

He is having a truly amazing time of it in Beantown. As far as I am concerned it is worth every penny. Pretty much what it is taking too!

[Warpy]

45. Berklee or NEMC?

[redwitch]

47. berklee

He's working very hard, playing in a band all over the area, never misses a class, and is an A student to boot. I'm really proud of him, can you tell? Plus, and this is so amazing! When we visited over the weekend, HIS BEDROOM WAS ACTUALLY CLEAN!

[MadHound]

19. This may just be the tip of the iceberg

They won this relatively recently, and it takes time to set up trusts, investments, etc. etc. My bet is that their financial planners have put them on a strict budget until these matters are settled. Thus they're doing what they can on a budget, and will do more once things are more settled. I would say let's revisit this in a year or so and see have generous they've been since then.

[Catherine Vincent]

21. Who cares?

They won the lottery and I didn't!

:-)

[pointblank]

22. EXACTAMUNDO

..and dammit, I'm pissed!!!!!!

:hi:

[file83]

23. If you do the math....

Let's say that after taxes, these guys only really get 150 million dollars.

So $6000 / $150000000 = 0.00004%

What that means to us, is, let's say you've got a net worth of $150,000 dollars (many have much less than that), this would be like if you donated $6.00 at your local charity.

Let's say you only have a net worth of $15,000 dollars, then that would be like you donated a whole whopping $0.60 cents.

Even more, if you only have $1500 socked away (and you own no real estate & no 401k), that would be like donating $0.06 cents!

Wow. A M A Z I N G. What a story of sacrifice!! :rofl:

[beyurslf]

25. We don't know what else they have given and to what other charities.

[lindisfarne]

26. Bill Gates gets headlines for giving the equivalent of less than 57 cents

when you figure what his net worth is ($50 billion plus, depending on how Microsoft is doing), subtract $80,000 - which is what any family can live quite well on - and then figure out what a "gift" of 1 billion is worth as a fraction of his "excess income. (Sorry - I don't credit extra amounts for annual living expenses to families who choose to live in ridiculously large houses).

[mondo joe]

30. As if the beneficiaries care what it amounts to out of his net value.

I don't know - he doesn't have to give anything.

[pointblank]

29. Let me address all of those

who have responded and said that the fact that they gave is good....

Fine. they gave, good for them. Maybe its the socialist in me lashing out here and I am saddened to see so many living in poverty...in such a rich nation, we have children who go hungry and have parents who cant afford to buy them the bare necessities..I was a paramedic for four years in a pretty poverty stricken area, trust me I know first hand.

Then we have so many people living in excess, spending money frivelously while their fellow man goes hungry...it sickens me. this story triggered a response in me.

am I friggin mother thresa??...not by a long shot. but I do give. every paycheck to the United Way, and a pretty good chunk of change at that...and I make 45 g a year. I give quite a bit I think.

[MissB]

33. So do I, but I don't have new-found wealth.

Nor do I have a bunch of financial planners cautioning me to take it easy.

It may seem like a paltry sum, and compared to their winnings it certainly is. I prefer to look at it as an indication that they plan on doing something decent with some portion of their money- which they are *not* required to do.

I cannot compel them to donate millions of dollars to any particular charity and neither can you.

[pointblank]

35. I understand.

I am not trying to compel anyone, just making a statement.:hi:

If it were up to me though, they WOULD be required to donate a generous portion, and I promise that if I ever win the lottery or gain a large inheritance, I will stick to that requirement.

[DBoon]

34. and if they donated nothing at all

you would have shown no outrage or even notice.

Do you have some sort of suggested donation guide for people winning the lottery? Like those "suggested tipping" cards for restaurant meals?

[pointblank]

36. But it wouldn't have

been a bullshit news story on a major news outlet's website and..you're right, I wouldn't have noticed!

[RandomKoolzip]

38. Um...I think the bigger story is that the Powerball winners were

all MEATPACKERS, making shit wages. The fact that they gave ANYTHING back to the less fortunate is cool enough for me.

[BlooInBloo]

40. Bully for them - it's THEIR fucking money...

sheesh.

People just can't stand others who aren't IN THEIR VIEW, suitable "giving".

It's THEIR goddamn money - leave em alone.

[Sapphire Blue]

42. How many of us are willing to forgo the beef jerkey & slurpee...

... and put that money in the Muscular Dystrophy box, instead? Do we really need the beef jerkey or the slurpee? (Edited to add: think about this the next time you see one of those Muscular Dystrophy boxes... or another similar box.)

I think it was kind of the lottery winners to make this donation, regardless of the amount.

[Beelzebud]

43. When you win the lottery, you can give it all away.

[mdmc]

44. that is very kind of them. 40.oo will go a long way for a poor person

:kick:

[MrSlayer]

46. That was nice of them.

They didn't have to give anyone anything and now they are being vilified for not giving enough? Ridiculous.

[Horse with no Name]

49. I think a gift of $6 or a gift of $6000

will be put to good use.
It is the thought that counts.