The Advocate offers kudos to groups for campus excellence

In the midst of the academic and financial struggles students must endure, it’s good to know there are those who standout in the large mass of diverse students at MHCC who still find the time to give back to the community, excel athletically and simply make a difference on campus.

First, The Advocate congratulates MHCC’s volleyball team for winning the NWAACC championships on Nov. 20, beating the Walla Walla Warriors in the final game of the tournament and winning their first title since 2007.

Volleyball has always been one of the staples of MHCC athletics, but winning the NWAACC title is no simple feat, especially considering the team’s second-place finishes in each of the last two seasons. Great job on another fantastic year and a wonderful way to represent the school.

Recognition is also well deserved by Barney’s Pantry, the Associated Student Government-run campus food bank. The pantry has had another successful term this fall, giving out 26 Thanksgiving boxes to struggling students. It’s one thing to help out strangers in need, but when you can help out your fellow students, it is truly a blessing on the campus.

Barney’s Pantry will be expanding its services with a clothing closet as well, which can only build on their current success. This is a great move by ASG. For students needing the services of the food pantry, it is located in the back of the College Center.

Lastly, kudos goes out to the “Something Wonderful” program, in which people can “adopt” struggling families by buying them presents, clothing and food. The program has attracted enough donors to adopt an impressive 63 families.

Arguably one of the most successful charitable organizations on campus, “Something Wonderful” was established in 1994. Since that time, the organization has helped well over 600 families, an amazing statistic to say the least. Already over a decade in the running, we can only hope the program operates for at least another decade and continues to grow.

The Advocate would like to congratulate the theater and music programs as well as the forensics team and men’s and women’s cross country teams, for a successful fall term and a job well done and encourage you all to keep up the good work as we end fall term and enter the winter term.

In addition to these aforementioned campus organizations, we would also like to extend congratulations to any campus groups we may have missed. We wish you all the best of successes as we enter 2012.