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���ż��ٲ� (���ż��ٲ�) saw many changes in 2021. We returned to campus. We took our masks off. We put our masks back on. We added more in-person classes. We built a new hall. But one thing didn’t change, and that, dear readers, is the do-good nature of the ���ż��ٲ� Mountain Lion.

It should come as no surprise, civic responsibility is, afterall, written into our Mission Statement and sustainability is one of our Core Values. Still, you might be a little surprised. Take a look at some of the good we did for our fellow community members over the last 12 months:

• Our annual Holiday Helping Hands event raised $10,215, which provided 204 families in our community with $50 grocery store gift cards just in time for Thanksgiving. Our Future Teachers Club also hosted a food and clothing drive in conjunction with Holiday Helping Hands and received 200 food items and seven moving boxes full of clothing. The food was donated to Holiday Helping Hands recipients and the clothing went to the Boys & Girls Club.
   
• Our annual United Way fundraising campaign brought in $9,197. We were the fourth-highest fundraiser of all the District colleges, coming in behind Mesa Community College ($35,037), Rio Salado Community College ($13,833), and Glendale Community College ($10,594).
   
• A cadre of our nursing students administered COVID-19 vaccinations in the spring and flu shots in October at Abrazo West in Goodyear, and they helped decorate Christmas trees in December for residents at Hacienda Del Rey in Litchfield Park.
   
• Several of our students and employees joined forces in April to help distribute food boxes during St. Mary’s Drive-Thru Food Bank on campus.
   
• Some of our students recruited and tabled at January, September, and November Vitalant blood drives on campus.
   
• Our Teacher Education Institute partnered up with the PebbleCreek Rotary Foundation, Avondale Elementary School District, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to provide books for children and monthly training sessions for their parents to promote early childhood literacy.
   
• Several of our students volunteered at the Avondale Police Department’s “Creepin’ Cruise,” “Shop with A Cop,” and shred-a-thon events; West Valley Mavericks’ Roundup and Shindig events; and ���ż��ٲ�’s annual Veterans Day Appreciation Ceremony and Fun Run.
   
• Our Honors students volunteered throughout the year at Feed My Starving Children, Sounds of Autism, Agua Fria Food & Clothing Bank, St. Mary’s Food Bank, and Boys and Girls Club of the Valley.
   
• One of our students provided tax preparation assistance for West Valley residents in the VITA program in the spring.
   
• One of our students created weekly podcasts and a video promoting autism awareness for Sounds of Autism in the spring, and in the fall, our Education, Social Work, and Honors students provided 95 hours of service for Sounds of Autism’s Boots on the Ground initiative.

“The generosity of our employees and students never ceases to amaze me,” ���ż��ٲ� President Dr. Rey Rivera said. “It’s been a difficult year for everyone, but even in the face of adversity, ���ż��ٲ�’s Mountain Lions always rise to the challenge of lifting others up. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of this Pride.”