We have a lot to be proud of in Sun City West when it comes to the amount of volunteer work being done.

There are a number of organizations in our community that rely on the help of volunteers and we owe the organizations and those volunteers a great deal of thanks.

The Sun City West Posse volunteers help keep our community safe through wellness checks and helping to guide traffic safely through accident scenes and other emergency activity. Posse volunteers handle a lot of calls to the office on R.H. Johnson and Stardust boulevards and it is Posse volunteers you see riding in the vans checking on our neighborhoods.

Sun City West PRIDES volunteers help keep our community beautiful, keeping a close eye on the plant life and cacti that adorn the road dividers. They do other environmental work as well in our community.

Helping Hands, which is part of the Sun City West Foundation, is a beehive of activity with volunteers on hand to maintain a warehouse full of medical devices, which either help people get around on foot or help people with other health needs. The warehouse is also full of roll away beds and other items your loved ones, including pint sized loved ones, can make use of when they come visit this time of year.

There are volunteers helping to get people to and from their medical appointments and shopping through Northwest Valley Connect and there are volunteers helping those in nutritional needs through the various food banks in our area, including the Valley View Community Food Bank, which runs a food pantry each week on the Sun City West Foundation property.

You will see volunteers at work in our area hospitals, helping to guide you to where you need to go and perhaps helping to get you in and out of the vehicle you arrived in.

When you see the American flags on display up and down R.H. Johnson Boulevard before and during national holidays and observances, they were placed and removed by volunteers connected to the American Legion in our community. We are a community with a great deal of veterans and people still connected to our armed forces with loved ones following in their footsteps, and it is great to see how we honor members of our armed forces past and present.

So when we pause and reflect on the year that has drawn to a close, let’s take time to give thanks to all those who volunteer their time to all these important organizations that help keep Sun City West a great place to live.

My volunteer work involves recording two radio programs for the Recorded Recreational Reading For The Blind, one of which puts a spotlight on volunteers. I have interviewed a number of volunteers from various organizations since joining RRRB back in May and I look forward to placing more of you in the spotlight — you deserve it for all you do.