Credit: J. Stephen Conn

I am extremely proud to be a Minnesotan.

Over the last week you have read a number of articles on this site about GiveMN‘s Give to the Max Day which took place earlier this week.  This was their 3rd annual event and by all measures it was a huge success.  In 24 hours they raised $13.4 Million dollars from 47,543 donors who gave to a total of 3,978 non-profits.

Generosity is alive and well in Minnesota just as it has been for generations.  GiveMN is helping to spark that passion in new donors and make it relevant to younger generations.  It is exciting to see how students on campuses and those involved with great youth development organizations such as Students Today Leaders Forever have embraced and thrived by getting everyone involved and even creating competitions around giving.  Our community and region has benefited greatly by the generosity of everyday people since our state was first founded.  People give of their time, talents and treasures every day of the year and that is what makes this an amazing place to live.

When many think about donations they first think of some of our founding families such as Cargill, Pillsbury, Dayton, Crosby and McKnight or our generous companies such at General Mills, Target, Starkey, 3M or Best Buy.  Each of these names has played a huge role in the success and vibrancy of our community but equally important is the support of each and every individual.  As Margaret Mead so eloquently put it “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. “  This is still so very true as you think of the 3,978 organizations who received funds, each one was started by a very small group and grew because one person supported them and than another.

The majority of the time we never know the impact our involvement has on others.  We often think, my small contribution isn’t going to make a difference but as you can see from the GiveMN results, 47,753 small donations turned into $13.4 Million dollars which will make a huge impact in our community.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Give to the Max day — You are amazing, you may never know the true impact you made possible but all of us continuing to work together will keep this an amazing place to live.

Be Proud – Be Bold – Be Involved

A couple things crossed my mind in regard to this website. First, the Internet has created an infinite source of “tips” and “how to” sites/blogs. I Googled “saving the environment tips” and it returned 356,000,000 links. I realize I need to optimize my search to find exactly what I am looking for, but still, there are thousands of sites with tips on environmental tips. With thousands of sites with tips, why bother having another site? How would the site stand out? Or because there are thousands of sites with tips, does this reflect the level of interest that exists in our society for saving the environment?

The second thing that crossed my mine is in regard to celebrities. One of the founders of www.greenissexy.org is actress, Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, The Time Traveler’s Wife). When I see a celebrity supporting a cause, I sometimes ponder the genuineness of their involvement. Are they passionate about the cause or using it for personal publicity? Does it really matter if they are helping the cause?

Of course, the same pondering can be said for non-celebrities in regard to community involvement. Does the genuineness of a volunteer or a donation matter?