SUMTER, S.C. — With great blessings can come great responsibility. Reverend Dr. Solomon Jackson, Jr. won the lottery in 2009, and he turned over the winning, and the blessings, for others.
Jackson has given Morris College the largest donation they have ever received from a single person: $10 million. Monday, he helped break ground on a new building on campus.
"I realize that the position that I'm in comes the good and the bad, but I promise to be led by God and if I'm led by God, I can't forget those who led me to where I am," he said. "Morris College will always and forever be a part of my life."
Jackson's generosity has put new buildings on the campus, and it has purchased new equipment such as a bus. A building will now stand at the site of Tuesday's groundbreaking, with new offices and a place to store maintenance equipment and vehicles.
"It's good to be in this position, what I have to precaution and be aware of is that there are other vultures and if I let them keep gnawing at me, they will try to turn my blessing into a curse," Jackson says. "I refuse that and I hope they get the message. Don't get mad at me because the Lord has blessed me. Morris College will be blessed."
The building will be called the Solomon Jackson, Sr., William McKinleyBowman, Sr., Raymond Carolina Physical Plant, named after Jackson's father and two men who served as spiritual mentors to him.
"My father will always be cherished in my heart, he taught me everything that I know, even pushing a lawnmower when it was dull and he had to work to feed all of us," he said.
Morris College President Dr. Luns C. Richardson said that numerous generations of students and staff will be able to enjoy the gifts that Jackson has given.
"Our maintenance staff and buildings and grounds workers will have a decent place to plan and work out of," he said. "We haven't stopped smiling yet."
Jackson says it is a thrill to help generations of students and staff for decades to come.
"For everything I do I try to acknowledge God, for where He leads me, there I will go," Jackson said.
Who am I to judge?
So I guess I won't.
I'd like to know if that was the whole wad. I can't watch the video cuz they still ain't pipin' in hi-speed to the stump jumpers back up in here.
Did the video mention if that was all of his winnings or how much he won?
Thank you rdgrnr
for preventing my rush to judgement...I skipped the video first time around but now have newfound faith in the Reverend.
He won:
$260,000,000
$10,000,000 is a modest gift and in my enlightened opinion, not as bad as giving the entire amount to a college. Hopefully he finds very good
things to do with the other 5%.
This is spreading the wealth the way it is meant to be!
His money goes where HE wants it to go!
A lot of christians say in the bible its wrong to gamble and gambling is a sin, lottery is a gambling game that Reverend Dr. Solomon Jackson chose to play in, it can't be a sin if a reverend chose to play it and in the process won big can it?
Nope I don't think that's the whole wad....The guy won more than 250 Million so unless he has a garage full of Rolls..Bently and Ferrari's then I say he's got 10's of Millions left. But that's a hefty donation he's given...I hope he can continue to do good work and not get caught up in too much media attention.....He seems like a good guy and handles the money well so good luck to him....
Thanks dr65 and petergrfn.
Yeah, that's a nice chunk o' change and a nice chunk he gave the college.
From some of his talk it sounds like he's being pestered for handouts.
I wish him the best.
Wow, what a generous man. I like it when people like him win big.
I am a Christian and I gamble... The Bible also says that you can consume of the wine, but, do not get drunk... I believe that everything is ok in moderation, as long as it does not harm you, i.e. (drugs). You have overbearing Christians that make me ashamed of being a child of Christ. Because they believe that sitting at home reading the bible and going to church is the only thing in this life that matters and I say... how are you supposed to witness to people when you spit in their face because they are a sports fan or gamble? I think that the best way to witness to someone is to rise above those people and become a better person by representing the true meaning of being Christian... Jesus loves the sinner and the non sinner he may not approve, and he wants to lead you in the right path but in the end that choice is yours... You shine the light of Christ in your life, and that representation to your friends and co-workers of what God has done in your life is witness enough to make them think that this path that they have choose is not the right path... sometimes it is not your words but actions that define you and where you stand.
God Bless you, and the Rev.
Dittoes, adamc.
Now if you could just get some of these holier-than-thou's in TN to let us buy whiskey without traveling all over the dadgum state to get it or making it ourselves, well, I'd be happier than a fat rat in a cheese house.
HEY..... there is nothing like some homemade shine.... "peach or cherry?" -Days of Thunder-
I was just asking how much he won, Louise. The article didn't specify how much he won and I can't watch the video cuz they won't pump in that hi-speed internet to us pore white trash crackers up here in the mountains.
dr65 and petergrfn responded and told me he won $260 million.
I then said I wished him the best.
I don't know how you misunderstood anything. It was plain old English without even having to deal with my hillbilly accent. You oughta hear me when I got a mouth full of biscuits and gravy and try to talk. It's even worse with corn bread and soup beans. I ain't even gonna mention shoo-fly pie or apple-pan dowdy. Hot peppers are worse though. That's when I get to howlin like a ol' howlin wolf. Ooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww, oooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! I think the absolute worst though is when I got one of them old cheap whiskey hangovers. Oooohh, Lawd have mersaaay! My tongue be wallerin out like a dyin calf in a hailstorm, Louise. You gotta see it sometime. The little woman says I commence to making a sorrowful, nerve racking, pitiful, gut-wrenchin moanin sound like the world ain't never seen.
I'm bout to fix me a little taste right now, Louise. If you was here I'd set ya fine seff up too.
No cheap stuff now, Louise. It's Gentleman Jack tonight.
Here is the breakdown of how much he gave for each thing:
- $3 million for a new dorm
- $2.5 million for a new administration building
- $1 million to the college's general endowment
- $1 million to endow athletic scholarships
- $747,000 for a new maintenance building and vehicle shed
- $500,000 for freshman scholarships
- $450,000 for a coach bus
- $435,000 for a new roof for an existing dorm
I remember hearing about this guy and seeing a video of him at the press conference. Really nice guy and is the kind of person you want to hear about winning.
He's a good man, God bless him
rdgrnr,
I also have a slow connection, dial-up 56K. However, you can still view video if you don't mind waiting. All you do is click {play} and wait for it to start. The second the video starts playing, you click {pause}. You must catch the video while it is playing to pause it otherwise it may not work. After the entire video has loaded, then you click {play} to view your video.
This almost always works. However, on the BBC site, you can only cache about 1 minute 8 seconds. If the BBC video is longer than 1:08, you must click pause to cache the rest of the video in. I wrote the BBC webmaster and asked them to change their video playback so it would cache the entire video but they never bothered.
I just got through seeing the video. I normally don't bother. The video is about 8 MB's in my FireFox browser cache. It takes about 8x3 minutes or 24 minutes to load. I recommend you load a long story to read or simply leave and return after the video has loaded, which is what I did since I had other things to do. I was able to play the video twice because it was clearly saved in my FireFox browser cache. However, I had to reload the page because otherwise only the sound would replay. YouTube doesn't give me problems. I believe Internet Explorer gives smoother video playback, especially for slower systems.
If you want to optimize your dial-up connection, I suggest you use an MTU optimizer. One such program is called TweakMASTER Pro and costs $40, although I'm sure there are free utilities out there.
I agree
............ I spend $1 or $2 a week on either Powerball or Mega Millions. My only hobby.
If I ever win a jackpot, I do know some people at my church that will most likely be offended ......... that is their problem as there are other places to worship !
The Rev. has a heart of gold !
Thanks CAL, I'll give it a shot. I gave up on videos a long time ago (couldn't handle the anxiety attacks) but I'll try this.
--------->
Wish I took these words from you and wrote them myself as what you wrote is perfect
God bless you too adamc224
Dang rdgrnr did you have to start bringing up food? I wasn't even hungry till I started reading about Biscuits and Gravy.. Corn Bread and Soup beans...MMMMM HMMMMM I could go for some of that! How bout some fresh hot biscuits and some sourwood honey.. or Just some Fresh CornBread and a glass of Buttermilk?? I tip my glass of Bourbon to you......Have a good night....
Sourwood honey, yessuh! I figger you fer west NC or maybe north Georgia.
BINGO! You sir know your stuff.... My family are from the Mtns. of W. North Carolina..... Some of the best Corn Liquor also comes from up there...LOL
If some Christians used the same logic for food as they do playing a modest amount on the lottery ....... they wouldn't eat because some people eat way too much and are in poor health or could die because of overeating !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry my bad , I thought you was saying you couldn't watch because you wouldn' be able to stomach it. I apologize for jumping to conclusion.
if i had applied that ideaology to my life vs my outgo lottery play (i only buy 1QP per drawing), i would have died about 11 years ago from malnutrition leading to starvation...
No problem Louise, everybody's been wrong about something before - except all my ex-wives of course, they was always right about everything!
And so was all they mama's too, now that I think about it. I don't marry no wimmins when they mama be totin straight razors no more either. Ain't no call for that.
My sentiments exactly. I too am a Christian. If playing lottery is in moderation and not to the detriment of your and families income why can't it be enjoyed just as going to games, etc.
were was i when he won, so i could of beeenj blessed as well
somepeople have luck with>>>WAD>>>of>>>>>$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!
we were bring'$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$>>WAD'SSSSSSSSSSSof$$$$$$$$$$from>>>>>>>VEGAS!!!!!!
NOW>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>URWAD>>>>>>>>>>>>undertand'$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?????
DON't<<<<<<<<<THINK<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<1/2 UUUUUUUUUUUUUU<<<<<<<on LP KNOW what$$$?????
it is 22222222222BUY<A>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>car,>truck.>R>ABOAT>>>>22222222IMPROVE>UR>FAMILY!!!!
IF>U>NEED>>>>CAR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>CAR.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>!!!!
BUY>IT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>!
PSYKOMO
Well, alrighty then.
I do like your way of thinking! ;)
Oh! rdgrnr have you ever though about doing comedy, you are a very funny guy . You should check into it ,I think you are funnier than Jeff Foxworth ,really I think the LP family would agree with me . That way you can talk about all the Political figure you want without any kick back only money. Good Luck
Actually, my current wife said she wishes I was on TV.
So she could turn it off once in a while.
Well thank you whitmansm2, I hope you come around more often.
I need encouragement, moral support, positive reinforcement and occasional soothing.
Maybe I just need to be held.
A good steward! I often believe that one day, whenever I attempt to play the lottery and win, that I will be ready. I will also be that good steward. I enjoyed this story primarily because of the scriptures that comes to mind. I am afraid that I will be too generous and not careful to know what direction to actually go in. Being led by God is where I will want to be. I love my family and friends and I desire to see a bigger picture and not to be caught up in fulfilling a host of desires. Your life, Reverend Dr. Solomon Jackson, Jr., was exactly where God could use you! Continue to be blessed!