Launching the Cosmos Foundation |
Cosmos Foundation 983 words Joe Cosmos Lewis won one billion dollars in one of the biggest lotteries in the U.S. They were retirees from the US government service and had been living in Korea where her family was from, but he had grown up in Berkeley and always wanted to return to live there, but it had become just too expensive and difficult to move back They had occasionally bought lotto tickets. And they had speculated about what they would do if they became Lotto billionaires. This was such an unexpected and amazing opportunity to pay back and do something good for the world and themselves. They buy a 60-story quake-resistant building in downtown San Francisco that becomes the headquarters of the Cosmos Foundation. It was a mixed-use building, which was 100 percent powered by renewable energy on-site solar and wind power, and had a water harvesting system that provided potable water to the building, and a rooftop garden. The building would be mixed-use with retail and restaurants and services to the building on the first five floors, officials include start-ups on floors six to ten, private apartments (half rental, half condos) 1 to 4 bedrooms, two per floor, half below market rate, and 10 percent low income, up to the 40th floor. The 40th to the 45th contained a gym, swimming pool, library, and service open to residents and workers in the building, members of the clubs, and their guests, then the 56th to the 57th would contain housing for the CEO and his senior staff. They would live on the 58th to -59th floors. The 60th floor would contain a rooftop restaurant, the rooftop would contain a rooftop garden, and a garden restaurant available for everyone in the building. The Cosmos Foundation would give priority for residing in the building to people working in the building or the immediate vicinity. Eventually, 50 percent came from the neighborhood, and 25 percent from the building itself. All are part of their effort to build sustainable housing for all. Every resident would receive transit passes and free veggies from the corporate garden They decided one of the first things they wanted to do was to set up a scholarship fund called the Cosmos Scholarships which would be given to 100 people a year Half would be from the US and how would be from foreign countries, and half the scholarships would be given to woman, 25 percent to people from marginal communities worldwide. Scholarships will be awarded based on showing considerable leadership potential or overcoming hardships at a relatively young age. Each applicant would write an essay or a video piece that would answer a simple question. What are the top problems facing humanity? And what would they do to solve that problem if they got the opportunity to do so? All the essays and videos were on our website and were widely shared with key decision-makers worldwide. Once a year they would have a conference where they would bring world leaders together with the Cosmos Scholars and address the issues they raised and look at the progress being made to address these problems. The scholarships could be redeemed at any university in the world but foreign Cosmos scholars would have to spend one year in the United States (regardless of citizenship status) US citizens have to spend one year studying overseas All Cosmos scholars would have to by the time they finish college test out at the 3-3 level in a language other than their native language and for the foreigners test out in English. Most Cosmos Scholarship recipients would spend their summers as paid interns in the Cosmos Foundation, either at the headquarters or working on various projects that the Cosmos Foundation would fund all over the world. All Costume scholars would commit to spending two years after graduation in a public service position including the military, the Peace Corps, local, state, and federal governments, international organizations, or their equivalent back home. Upon fulfilling those requirements, applicants would be welcomed to apply for Cosmos Graduate scholarships which would be awarded to 50 people per year half international, half U.S. Finally, Cosmos Scholarship alums could apply to work for the Cosmos Foundation worldwide with sponsorship for permanent residency for those selected. Eventually, 70 percent of the staff were former Cosmos Scholarship recipients. They would also expect all Cosmos scholars and staff to uphold a high personal code of conduct, including no racist, sexist or violent language or misconduct, They picked the top 100 candidates. They picked the candidates and they launched the Cosmos Foundation scholarships. His best friend, Matt agrees to serve as his chief financial officer, and with his help, the Cosmos Foundation set itself up to be a perpetuating foundation after their deaths. They would have enough money left over to keep this Cosmos scholarship going in perpetuity as well as other projects that we decided to fund besides the Cosmos scholarship, which is their flagship program. They also would fund public health promotions, and They would also find a project to put public toilet facilities all over the country, cleaning up the United States and the world. Each public toilet would have male and female guards would guard a separate toilet with a shower and a vending machine for necessities 24 hours a day. They would fund the maintenance of the cosmos foundation toilets, as they call them. They would start by putting them up in high-traffic areas across the country and tourist areas. Furthermore, they soon were a great hit, and the idea spread around the world. Finally, they set up 15 university housing projects for the Cosmos Scholars and visiting staff to live in. The Cosmos Houses were located at American University in DC. Cal Berkeley, UCLA, the University of Washington, and the University of the Pacific, and added additional houses in the US and overseas./ Updated from an earlier submission. Write a story or poem that contains an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for one of your characters. Use Emotional as one of your genres. |