Give to the Max Day - Less Than One Week Away

November 16^th is Give to the Max Day.

But what’s Give to the Max Day, you ask?

Well, Give to the Max Day, otherwise known as The Great Minnesota Give Together, is just that: a day when people can go to givemn.org and donate to their favorite non-profits.  Of course, people can go online any day of the year and make a charitable contribution. 

But Give to the Max Day isn’t just a regular day, no, it’s a day for Minnesotans to come together to give as much as possible in a single day for nonprofits.  In 2010, $10 million was donated to over 3,600 Minnesota charities on Give to the Max Day.  There are also incentives for nonprofits to raise money on Give to the Max Day.  The nonprofit that raises the most money on November 16^th will receive a $15,000 prize grant, second place will receive a $10,000 prize grant, and third place will receive a $7,500 prize grant.  It was also announced that the 4^th-10^th nonprofits with the most dollars received on Give to the Max Day will get a $5,000 prize grant each.

So, in less than one week, nonprofits all over Minnesota will be asking for your dollars to help their causes, and Sherburne County Area United Way is no different. 

Sherburne County Area United Way is among the nonprofits that are participating in Give to the Max Day.  Sherburne County Area United Way will be seeking donations which will go towards our funded programs.  One of the ways Sherburne County Area United Way makes change in the community is by funding local agencies’ programs.  By partnering with these agencies, we ensure that donor dollars are used as effectively as possible. 

Sherburne County Area United Way also has started youth programming.  This summer, we had four camps for middle-school-aged youth.  The camps focused on building self-reliant skills, communication skills, and self-confidence.  In 2012, we hope to bring this programming to local school districts and work with students who are falling through the cracks.

Give to the Max Day, November 16^th, is a wonderful opportunity for Minnesotans to show everyone what we already know: that Minnesota is one of the most generous and giving states.  We hope that you will go to givemn.org and contribute to the goal of the Sherburne County Area United Way: to create long lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the first place.

Simple Pleasures

This past Sunday, Daylight Savings time ended.  Now, I know that this is old news, but it brought something to my mind that I felt like sharing. 

I LOVE when Daylight Savings Time ends.  I love it.  I enjoy the fact that there’s an extra hour in the day.  I enjoy that it’s lighter in the morning (I find that it’s much easier to get ready for work when it’s light out.)  When I was younger (not much younger, mind you) I would wait to set the clock in my room and my watch back.  I was waiting.  What was I waiting for?  I was waiting for a really good time, a really good hour.  After I had enjoyed that really good hour, I would switch my clocks back and live that hour again.

It was quite fun.

But what’s the point of this anecdote?  Well, I was remembering this tradition this past Sunday, and it really hit my how sometimes the smallest, silliest things can really be some of the most happy.

I don’t know about you, but as I grow older and get busier (and busier and busier), I find that I value those little things that bring joy more and more.  Things such as the cat chasing the dog into the bathtub, unexpectedly finding the perfect gift for someone, or hearing my favorite song on the radio.  Those are all things that I consider pretty simple, but have a disproportionately large ability to cause happiness.

And is there ever too much happiness?

I don’t think so.  Daylight Savings ending has so inspired me that I’ve been trying to do random, simple things that can bring happiness to others.  So far I’ve helped decorate a store, straightened the cupboards, and bought snazzy coffee cups.

Doing simple things such as these has been beneficial, and in some unexpected ways.  Of course, these things have brought joy to others.  For instance, straightening up the cupboards has allowed everyone to be able to see what’s inside, and it makes people happy to not have to frustratingly dig through the cupboard to find something (especially since if any cupboard door is open for more than a few seconds the cat darts in and there has to be time taken to fish him out.)  No, the thing that I didn’t expect was that doing these things makes me happy as well.

Now that I’ve written that, I think it seems like that statement is a cliché and I should have anticipated that, but I didn’t.  I just didn’t expect cleaning cupboards to be that rewarding, because it seems like such a small thing.  So now I’m advocating for this notion.  Try to do one or two small things, and see how they make other people happy.  See how they make you happy.