Winter has come early to parts of Minnesota this year.  As I write this in Minneapolis, it’s currently -6 Celsius, which, for a Wednesday evening, is a temperature more common in January.  Also, there’s about 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground, and this, while not unheard of, is still out of the ordinary for your standard Wednesday on a November evening.

Something else that’s somewhat unusual in the grand chaos of things is that some crazy people insist on bicycling in this weather, over glassed ice and over packed snow and through unforgiving winds and through piercing cold, despite the fact that there are buses to take and trains to catch in order to experience the commute in proper warmth more befitting us fragile yet resilient humans.

Still, as I, as one of those crazy people who insist on riding their bicycle in the winter rather than packing the bike up in storage for the winter, make my way down the Cedar Lake Trail and across the Greenway, in the dark, over ice and snow (and sometimes pavement if I’m lucky), not really seeing very clearly where I’m heading since I don’t have the best headlight in town (although some people’s headlights for their bikes are simply way too bright), I’m reminded of a character called Ian Chesterton, who, in the very first Doctor Who episode that aired on 23 November 1963, exclaimed, “But that’s ridiculous,” after the Doctor and Susan explained that their ship, TARDIS, can go anywhere in time and space, the Doctor remarking, “This doesn’t roll along on wheels, you know.”

And my bicycle doesn’t roll along on wheels, you know.

Well, actually it does.  But they’re a special kind of wheels.  Wheels with little metal studs that make their way around the circumference of the tyre, dotting it every inch or so in tiny stars of silver embedded in the black.

But, without them, I would be slipping and falling every time I came across the slightest bit of ice.  And it just wouldn’t do.  And going to where I would need to go would be arduous.

The same as it is with Minnesota’s nonprofits.  They don’t roll along on wheels, you know.  They depend upon generous donations from people like you in order to get to where they need to without some glassy ice or piercing cold inhibiting the way.

Tomorrow (that’s 13 November 2014) is Give to the Max.  It’s a kind of holiday of sorts.  And it’s a day where last year more than 52.000 people gave $17.1 million to 4500 organizations.

And you get to choose where your money goes!  I myself have Bedlam Theatre, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Forecast Public Art, the Animal Humane Society, and the American Composers Forum picked out.

But why give on this day of all days?  Why not give any old day?

First, let’s face it, if you give any old day you’ll never give.  (Well, maybe you will, but it seems so much more special when tens of thousands of people all give on one day.)

But also, there are some wonderful perks to your generosity on this day.  One cool perk is that some of your donations may qualify for matching gifts.  Another perk is that you can go to a single website, type in the organization you want to donate to, and donate away.  It’s so easy.  All on one site!

Something else that’s pretty cool is that every hour two organizations that received at least one donation of at least $10 might randomly win a “golden ticket,” and if they do, they’ll receive an additional donation of $2000 from Give to the Max.  How cool is that!

So, I encourage you to visit Give to the Max sometime on 13 November (or right now, if you want, to schedule your donation) and give whatever you can to your favorite nonprofit or nonprofits.  They don’t just roll along on wheels, you know.  They need your support so that animals can find the care they need, so that composers can keep composing, so that actors can keep performing, or so that whoever can continue doing whatever it is they do.

And tomorrow morning I shall return to riding my bike, like some crazy person, over ice and over snow, through wind and through cold, knowing full well that if it weren’t for those special wheels with the metal stars embedded in the black, I wouldn’t be able to get to where I need to go.

And I will continue riding and doing so, knowing that you could be one of tens of thousands of people who might also help give a certain nonprofit those special wheels with metals stars embedded in black, so that they may be able to go where they need to go.