Wednesday, January 6, 2010

$162-million Mega Millions

The winners of the $162-million Mega Millions jackpot are a Miller Place couple who consider their big score a victory for the people - "We the People."

Winners Richard and Mary Morrison have a lot of plans for their newfound wealth - including opening a seafood restaurant and paying off their mortgage - but top on the list is financing Richard's book about the Preamble to the Constitution.

>> PHOTOS: Richard and Mary Morrison win $162M Mega Millions jackpot

>> VIDEO: Mega Millions winners talk about their plans

Richard, a psychotherapist, said in an exclusive interview Tuesday he considers the Preamble to be not an introduction at all, but a legally binding statement and "the most magnificent constitutional sentence in the history of mankind."

The Morrisons, native Long Islanders who met 40 years ago at Carle Place High School, also plan a host of charitable endeavors with the winnings, which lottery officials have said will be a lump-sum payment of more than $100 million before taxes.

"We're common folk, we're part of 'We the People,' " Richard said, adding the couple has been "called up to a higher stage" of service by the prize.

Richard, 59, and Mary, 57, a massage therapist, said they have not always been fortunate, saying they reached the brink of bankruptcy in recent years. Sitting shoulder to shoulder Tuesday, giggling occasionally, the couple said they have "multiple children" between the ages of 14 and 38 - declining to say how many - and that they have spent most of their lives with little money.

Richard said he grew up in a single-parent household with eight siblings, and lost his childhood home in a fire. Years later, as a young married couple with a baby, the Morrisons scraped by on Mary's waitress wages while Richard worked toward his degree at Long Island University 's Brooklyn Campus, the couple said.

The Morrisons said the lessons they learned during those hard times served them well in their careers as social service providers. The couple worked as house parents for juvenile delinquents in the 1980s and ran homeless shelters in Suffolk County for 20 years.

Richard said their new charitable endeavors will support programs that encourage disadvantaged people to work their way off public assistance.

"If you give people a job, you give them dignity," he said.

Suffolk canceled its contract with the Morrisons' shelters in 2005 after Comptroller Joseph Sawicki found that the shelters owed the county $612,700 for improper charges such as retroactive raises and unfunded pension charges in 2000. A 2008 State Supreme Court order indicated the Morrisons' Love'M Sheltering Inc. would be responsible for repaying Suffolk , plus interest and other costs. The grand total owed the county was $809,417.91 at the time.

The money has not been paid, county attorney Christine Malafi said Tuesday.

The Morrisons declined to comment about the lawsuits beyond Richard saying that dealing with the county fueled his interest in the Constitution and increased his desire to make it easier to find jobs for homeless people.

>> VIDEO: Mega Millions winners talk about their plans

The Morrisons said winning the lottery reaffirmed their commitment to providing service to the poor, and "especially to disadvantaged children," Mary said.

But she said the winning ticket almost wasn't purchased.

>> PHOTOS: Richard and Mary Morrison win $162M Mega Millions jackpot

Mary bought the ticket at Cards and Things, a Rocky Point store. She was only in the store because it is next to a Michael's craft store, where she had to do some shopping.

Even then, she wasn't going to buy a lottery ticket until one of her younger children's pestering got to her.

"And I said, I never win, but OK," she said.

Said Richard: "It felt like divine justice."

With Kathy Kerr and Rick Brand

Â

What the Morrisons are doing with their jackpot

HIS BOOK:  Financing the completion of Richardâ??s book about the Preamble to the Constitution.

A NEW RESTAURANT:  Opening a seafood restaurant that will hire â??unemployableâ?? people with the goal of giving them a job, dignity, and taking them off welfare. They plan to hire a professional chef but use Richardâ??s sauces. Â

A FOUNDATION:  Starting a foundation that will set up projects to help find people work and get them off public assistance.

HOSPICE:  Opening a  palliative care  facility to help  terminally ill  people enjoy  their final days. Â

THEIR KIDS:  Helping their  children financially. Â

THEIR HOME:  Paying off the  mortgage on their Miller Place house.

WHEELS:  Buying a new car. Â

BUT NOT : A vacation.

>> COMPLETE COVERAGE: Miller Place couple strikes it rich

>> VIDEO: Mega Millions winners talk about their plans

>> PHOTOS: Richard and Mary Morrison win $162M Mega Million jackpot

No comments:

Post a Comment