If you won a $217 million lottery jackpot, what would you do with it?
One French man, being referred to as “Guy,” didn’t think twice about giving almost all of it away.
Guy won a then record-breaking $217 million lottery jackpot by the French lottery group Françaises des Jeux (FDJ) in December 2020.
“The minute I found out I was the lucky winner of the EuroMillions, I had the will to share my luck,” Guy said in the interview with Le Parisien, according to CNN.
He immediately knew what he was going to do with the money once he won.
“I only played during important pots, with one goal: to devote the major part of this sum to the creation of a foundation. My dream has never been to acquire boats, castles, or other sports cars, it is to be useful and to give meaning to this money, with maximum positive impact,” Guy said in an open letter, according to euronews.green.
Guy turned his win into an endowment fund, which is money set aside to earn revenue that will fund a charitable endeavor.
The fund is called Anyama and is named for a city in the south-eastern Ivory Coast in West Africa.
“Seeing the happy people around me is the greatest reward. When the money falls from the sky, something must be done with it to help those who are not so lucky. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense,” Guy said, according to Newsweek.
Guy is reported to have spent several years in the Côte d’Ivoire town during his childhood where he always remembers trucks being loaded up with local trees that were cut from the Burkina Fast, forests.
“This procession of trucks left a deep impression on me and filled me with outrage,” he said.
Anyama will fund several endeavors aimed at promoting environmental sustainability.
“The Anyama endowment fund is the result of an imperious desire to act for nature and human beings that I have had for years,” Guy said.
Anyama will begin its work with three main focuses.
“The Anyama endowment fund will support projects of general interest with the protection of life at their heart, around three fields of action: the protection and revitalization of forests, the preservation, and regeneration of biodiversity, support for carers family,” the foundation’s website states.
There isn’t any information listed yet on how the foundation will go about assisting with these initiatives.
Buy Guy did say that he intends to give away most, if not all of his winnings in the future.
Their website lists Max Thillaye du Boullay as Anyama’s General Director, and Isabella Delattre, Director of Sustainable Finance and Philly Gaboriau, the general director of the Louvre Endowment Fund, as members of the investment committee. They also list strategic orientation committee members.
“We, founders of Anyama, driven by humanistic values and generosity, wish to contribute to the general interest in a constructive way by supporting actions that will benefit nature and human beings,” the site says.
Apparently, Guy isn’t the only one giving away his EuroMillions fortune.
Another story about another EuroMillions winner, Frances Connolly, is also giving away her winnings, saying she is addicted to giving to others!
Learn more about the Anyama endowment fund at www.anyama.org.
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