Grand Canyon University

It took just 10 days — 10 days — for GCU to create a regional COVID-19 vaccination site, one unique in that it is the only point-of-dispensing site, or POD, in Maricopa County that offers a walk-through option. The goal is to administer between 800 to 1,000 vaccinations each day it is open to various community populations by appointment, depending on vaccine availability. “We’re doing it because this is part of our mission. This is part of our values to serve the community in this regard,” said Emergency Preparedness Manager Marcus Castle of the site, which opened today.

GCU has partnered with Phoenix Rescue Mission in many ways over the years, from helping the nonprofit’s restaurant, Mission Possible Cafe, get off the ground, to the organization being a clinical rotation site for the University’s prelicensure nursing students, to GCU offering scholarships to those who have gone through the Rescue Mission’s Transformations Recovery Program. The latest partnership is the Lope Shop’s Give Back Get Back campaign, in which clothing, shoes and other items will be donated to the nonprofit. GCU’s work with Phoenix Rescue Mission was featured in the Community Relations Department’s latest Town Hall Informational.

Office of Financial Aid Vice President Chris Arnold sees firsthand how Allocate to Elevate impacts his community. He remembers receiving a letter, written on grade-school, wide-ruled paper, about trip to the Arizona Science Center taken by a student at a school he supports through the initiative. He passes on that passion for the program to his team, which is always the first to reach 90% participation in Allocate to Elevate. JoAnna Langston, Director in the Office of Financial Aid, said the team doesn’t make the program a backburner item. “You make it a priority item,” she said.

Just before the first COVID vaccines were administered to health care workers on Monday, GCU was the site of a free-of-charge, community COVID Testing Blitz. Almost 800 individuals — about 700 who drove through and 100 who walked up — were tested at Saturday’s event on 27th Avenue, organized by the R.A.P.I.D. Coalition to meet the health care needs of vulnerable and underserved populations, including in Maryvale.

“I can’t even put into words the impact this will have for some of our families,” Westwood Elementary School Assistant Principal Paige Bodam said at Wednesday’s USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program distribution. It was the second of two distribution events to families in need hosted by GCU and CityServe, which partnered to deliver more than 2,000 food boxes prepared by Shamrock Farms.

GCU’s Christmas tree lighting ushered in a new season of hope Thursday night outside Canyon 49 Grill. Hot chocolate, Christmas cookies and roaring fires warmed the evening. And one hospitality management student who learned at the feet of her parents in their Oregon coffee shop was given an early Christmas gift, a scholarship named after beloved instructor David Landau.

Students volunteers had the chance to roll up their sleeves Wednesday for the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program distribution event at the 27th Avenue complex, an event hosted by GCU in partnership with CityServe International. About 165 students loaded and delivered more than 1,050 boxes of food prepared by Shamrock Farms, each weighing about 30 pounds and filled with everything from meat to bags of apples and carrots, cheese, milk and more. The boxes went to more than 20 community service organizations and churches, which then distributed those boxes to families in need. It was just the first event in an even bigger project with CityServe in which the University would be the Arizona distribution hub for products that will go to needy families.

Denise Krupp was shocked by what was happening during the pandemic. People were drinking more and dying more of drug overdoses. Isolation is one of the causes the College of Humanities and Social Sciences instructor will discuss in today’s virtual lecture, part of the student club Canyon Counselors Mental Health Week programs. The discussion begins at 1 p.m.

The road to college for many students begins with Thunder Vision, a GCU student-led program designed to create a culture of college-goers. Attendees visit the campus and learn what it takes to prepare for college, from applying for scholarships to the importance of maintaining a strong GPA. But like so many other initiatives during the pandemic, Thunder Vision has gone virtual, complete with online tours and an online curriculum.

This semester has been like no other. But GCU’s leaders and students adapted to the pandemic. They went to class in face coverings, gathered outdoors for Bible study and took part in fun events specially designed to avoid close contact. Campus life endured. And these creative examples are proof positive. Reprinted from the November issue of GCU Magazine.