Tonight marks the drawing for the record-breaking, $1.5 billion Powerball lottery.
I don’t normally play the lottery, but when some of my coworkers decided to buy tickets together, I thought, why not? So I threw my $2 into the pool.
And that got me thinking: what would I buy if I won Powerball?
That’s easy – I’d cure Batten disease.
But here’s the catch: I could do that and still have about $1,497,000,000 left.
That’s because Taylor’s Tale is working with Dr. Steve Gray, the scientist with the world’s best chance of fixing infantile Batten disease. Dr. Gray, an investigator in the Gene Therapy Center at the University of North Carolina, has already fixed Batten disease in his lab. He’s done it on a shoestring budget, with two years of work.
And in case you haven’t done the math yet, we could finish Steve’s work and treat real kids in a clinical trial, all for the low cost of about $3 million.
Before you say to yourself, “That’s a lot of money,” consider some of the items with a price tag of $3 million these days:
- The Ferrari FXX K (but you’re too late; they’re sold out)
- The Carolina Panthers’ placekicker
- An order of 2,500 dozen donuts decorated with icing made with Cristal champagne and covered with 24-karat gold
- Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz
- A 75-night stay in the Sky Villa at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas
- Four homes in Myers Park, the Charlotte neighborhood where I took piano lessons and attended a magnet elementary school
- Two rooms in the Playboy Mansion, which sold for $200 million
- The world’s largest residential pool
- The engagement ring Donald Trump gave to his third wife
- Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding
Maybe you hate Vegas or would never dream of buying a Ferrari. Maybe you don’t like swimming, and you’re thinking no one would ever need 2,500 dozen donuts.
But remember, that $3 million price tag covers not only the remaining work in Dr. Gray’s lab, but also a clinical trial. In other words, treating children who will suffer and die without our help. All for the small price of a kicker’s lucky cleats or the sparkling slippers Judy Garland wore on the yellow brick road.
We’re too late to save my sister. But I threw $2 at the Powerball lottery today, and I’ll bet a lot of my friends did, too. Now, I’m asking you to put your faith in Steve Gray and throw at least as much at building a future for kids like Taylor. Just think: if 1.5 million people saw this post and each gave $2, the remaining work and the clinical trial would be funded.
I don’t think I’ll win the Powerball drawing tonight.
But I know Steve Gray has figured out how to beat Batten disease.
Watch this great video to meet Steve and learn more about our $3 million cure. Then, make a gift to Taylor’s Tale and help us win the real jackpot. Give Now