I have always been a little bit amazed at money. Not really fascinated by it, or consumed by it, but more just amazed at it.

I have some friends who have done well financially and have some serious money. Sometimes they themselves did well, and other times they inherited well. In Minnesota, that generally has to do with inheriting farmland.

Then there are those people you can read about in magazines and newspapers and see on TV. You know, celebrities, star athletes and CEOs of large corporations. Many of those folks make millions of dollars every year. Why is what they do so much more valuable than what an ER nurse, for instance, does, who is saving lives every day, you may ask. Or worth more than what you and I do every day.

Don’t even get me started on the super rich. You know, the multi-billionaires. The ones who have so much money they need to spend some on sending themselves and some friends into space.

I mean, really, how much money does a person need? How much can you spend in one lifetime, before you are dead and buried and leave it all behind to someone in your will?

And, please, please, don’t get me started on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Now we have money that is not really money. It is bad enough to have money in the stock market where you have this much one day, and a lot less the next.

But then again, what is good old U.S. currency money anyway? Isn’t it just a piece of paper that someone somewhere says is worth a certain value?

OK, I have digressed once again. And I mean, I have really digressed.

I wonder what you do with your money. We all have bills to pay, and other things we want to do with our money, like get a new car, take a vacation, maybe buy a boat.

But, if you happen to have some extra money, there are a lot of places you can give it to, to help make a difference in your world.

Maybe you already do a bit of that.

You might give money to your church and other charities, and if you do, good for you.

Locally there are a lot of other places, people and organizations which can always use your financial help. Things like your local food shelf. There is one in Blue Earth and in Wells. They each serve a side of the county.

Then there is your local United Fund, a group which raises money and then disperses it to many other worthwhile local organizations. In Blue Earth there is a drive going on right now. You probably received a letter recently.

Most schools have an education foundation, and raise money to help out local students. Many of our towns have community foundations which do the same thing for their local communities.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I hope you are a person who gives some of your money to help others. And, I hope you like to give locally, to help out the community where you live and the people who are your neighbors.

OK, now, let’s finally get to the crux of this column. I have an idea where you could give some money, if you have a little extra you can spare and you are not saving up in order to send yourself to outer space.

The Blue Earth library, and specifically the Friends of the Blue Earth Community Library and Fossil Discovery Center, are having a fund drive to put new banners on an outside wall. As you may have seen in last week’s Faribault County Register, the cost is between $12,000 and $14,000 and they have half that amount saved and need to raise the other half.

Then there is also a fund drive to purchase a large dinosaur fossil for the new Fossil Discovery Center which is located inside the library.

Both of these projects are being done outside the usual budget of the library, so no city taxpayer funds are involved, thus they need to get donations in order to proceed with them.

Now, in full disclosure, I am a member of the library board and the Friends of the Library, so I do have a bit of a vested interest in these things.

The library board needs its budgeted funds for things like books, fixing the roof and paying the heat bill. So, that is why the Friends of the Library was created, to help raise funds for these extra items which all help make the library an interesting place to go.

So, if you would like to make a donation, please write a check to the Friends of the Blue Earth Community Library and drop it off at the library or at the Faribault County Register office, or mail it to the Friends of the Blue Earth Community Library c/o the Blue Earth Community Library, 124 W. 7th St., Blue Earth, MN 56013. Please designate it as for the wall banners or the dinosaur fossil, if you wish.

And please note, unfortunately, at this time we are unable to accept Bitcoin as a donation.