Katrina's Half

As time goes on, I personally think this could also be expanded to include other disasters because it is a great idea. This was Rock's idea.

I urge you to simply forward the website to people and/or blog about it. Tell people about it as well. While I don't participate in the lotteries, I know people who do. Try to convince them to pledge at the website.

The website is:

http://www.katrinashalf.com

Here is information from the site:

I was driving to the airport today, and I passed a billboard for Mega Millions, a multistate lottery in which the state of Georgia participates. The Mega Millions lottery is currently at a plump $131 million. As I was driving along, listening to news about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I was milling around the idea of "what if I won that money", and was immediately hit with a sense of guilt if I did. How could I become a multimillionaire while so many suffered along the Gulf Coast?

Then I was struck with an idea.

What if I could create a site where people who play lotteries could publicly commit (obviously nonbinding, but sometimes social oaths can be the most compelling) to giving half of whatever they win (i.e. the "take home" check) to the Red Cross (or some other charity's) relief effort for Hurricane Katrina? Think about it - let's say you won the aforementioned Mega Millions. You'd probably bring home about $90 million on the cash option, after taxes etc. That means you'd still get $45 million, and you would be giving a much-needed $45 million to the Red Cross (or some other charity's) Katrina relief effort.