As a community college, College of the Mainland students, staff and faculty are known for giving back to the community. This will be evident in the coming weeks as COM participates in the Bay Area Heart Walk and the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Southeast Texas fun run.

On Saturday, Nov. 10, the annual Bay Area Heart Walk will take place at the Kemah Boardwalk starting at 8 a.m. COM has set a goal of raising $3,000 for the American Heart Association.

To register to participate, go to www.bayareaheartwalk.org.

COM participants are eligible to receive a T-shirt (for the first 100 that sign up)  the week of the walk and a slice of pizza at a planned donor pizza party.

On Dec. 1, COM will play host to a Jingle Bell Run benefiting Mothers Against Drunk Driving starting with opening ceremonies at 8:45 a.m., a kids 1K starting at 9 a.m. and the 5K set for 9:15 a.m. Entry fees for the kids 1K (up to age 12) is $20 and the 5K is $35.

The fun run is open to the entire community.

Aside from the fun run, the event will feature the drunk driving simulator and other resources to raise awareness to students and the community about the perils of drunk driving. Drunk driving is the No. 1 cause of death on roadways.

According to MADD, there are 30 daily fatalities as a result of drunk driving – that’s one every 50 minutes. Another 290,000 are injured annually as result of drunk drivers. Each of these deaths and injuries are preventable.

To register for the Jingle Bell Run, go to https://www.athlinks.com/event/jingle-bell-run-158234.

For information about the Heart Walk and the Jingle Bell Run, contact Tige Cornelius or Kari Starz in Student Life.