Just the other week I was fortunate enough to attend a celebratory event hosted by the Fountain Hills Community Foundation.

Us old-timers might remember the Sunridge Foundation, which has since been rebranded and revitalized as the Community Foundation (fountainhillsgives.com).

The recent event held at DC Grill was buzzing with teenagers and adults as dozens of non-profit leaders gathered to receive grants courtesy of the foundation, which itself is a non-profit run by hard-working volunteers.

Much like Make a Difference Day, events such as this remind one how fortunate Fountain Hills is to have literally hundreds and hundreds of people willing to pitch in and help our community in so many ways.

Everyone is trying in their own manner to make a difference, to make Fountain Hills a better place to live, work and play.

On behalf of the Protect Our Youth Coalition, I want to thank the Community Foundation for its $5,000 grant, which will help us make a positive difference in the lives of our high school students.

The monies will go toward what is being billed as the Falcon PROMise, a multi-pronged effort to help raise some money for student government at our high school and to urge teens to take pledges to make healthy and smart choices around such iconic events as prom and graduation (and the rest of their lives, really).

Our teenagers face many tough decisions in their vulnerable years, and the world has changed quite a bit from when I was attending junior prom in the late 1970s.

Harmful decisions involving illicit drugs, alcohol, vaping and the like can have life-altering negative effects.

There are many other positive ways to celebrate life without turning to dangerous substances that can turn disastrous in a moment’s notice.