I'm going to be the first to admit "Give to the Max Day" — which you probably have heard about — is a shameless marketing gimmick. But then again, so is "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving that officially launches the holiday shopping season.
If you haven't heard, "Give to the Max Day" is part of GiveMN.org — which is a way to contribute money to hundreds and hundreds of local charities.
You don't HAVE to give on November 15th — but you're just strongly encouraged to.
Give to the Max Day is the official kickoff, in a way, of the end-of-the-year contributions so many of us make. Local charities don't have coupons or early bird discounts or any of those things — but they do have one important thing: a strong desire and ability to help people in their community.
The Washington County Library Partners would LOVE for you to go to GiveMN.org on November 15th and make a contribution... but not just to us, to ANY of the terrific nonprofit charities that make Minnesota what it is.
For us? We're presenting a check for AT LEAST $14,000 on Tuesday, November 20th, to the Washington County Library. That's going to be enough money to buy 2,012 books this year — our goal.
Most will be children's books, which cost between $4 and $9. Any money we get on Give to the Max Day, however, will be added to that amount. And — here's my pitch — LARGE PRINT books for adults are pretty expensive ($24 each) and so the Library isn't going to be able to buy many of those books with the money we give them.
But any extra dollars will give the Library the flexibility to buy a few more of those more expensive books. Children's books and large print books for adults are the two biggest needs for the Library — so we'd love to be able to buy as many of both types of books as possible.
So ... if you're one of those folks who love to get up at 4am on the day after Thanksgiving — I hope you have a successful shopping day. And if you could jump on your computer on "Give to the Max Day" (November 15th) — you will help make other Minnesotans just a bit more successful, themselves. Now that's a pretty good deal, doncha think?
