A Texas man is offering $1-billion awards to the first people who find cures for breast cancer and diabetes, produce a high miles-per-gallon car, and find a way to cause a huge reduction in greenhouse emissions, The Austin American-Statesman reports. The only hitch is that he still needs to raise the funds.

The donor, Mike Dewey, is not a millionaire, but his unique and ambitious effort is capturing the financial support of some powerful people and organizations.

The effort, called the Victory Project and run by the Dewey Foundation, has received $6-million in pledges so far. While Mr. Dewey acknowledged that the initial pledges were nowhere near his goal to raise $4-billion, “I know it to be true, this will absolutely work,” he said.

Mr. Dewey, an Austin marketing consultant, was motivated to start the project in response to his wife’s battle with breast cancer. Although Barbara Dewey is now cancer-free, Mr. Dewey explained, “I figure I’ve got about 20 years to make sure this thing works so my little girls don’t get breast cancer.”

The Dewey Foundation also plans to claim ownership rights to the cure/invention created by the winners. “I intend to give the dang thing away,” Mr. Dewey said. “There are people dying out there because they can’t afford the next pill off the AIDS drug-assembly line. Our idea gets the whole profit incentive out of the way upfront.”