We've asked a lot from our readers this year, and we're grateful to report you've answered the call.

The most recent evidence of your loyalty came on Giving Tuesday, when you helped us kickstart our donor-funded project on economic mobility with gifts totaling more than $18,000, including two matching gifts of $5,000. We thank you for each donation to The Day's Community Journalism Fund: Housing Solutions Lab, and promise to deliver a quality product once we're fully funded. We also will be applying for grants from various sources in the coming months.

Some of the donations came anonymously, and we want to assure you that those donors, and all the others, will have no special access or influence on our reporting. We've adopted an ethics policy indicating we maintain full editorial control. Donors are not informed about the reporting process any more than the public, nor are they allowed to review content prior to publication.

The money you donated is crucial, but your participation in the daily miracle of our local journalism is the true gift. Every call you take from us, each interview and photo or video shoot you grant, every letter to the editor or comment you put on a story — well, most of them — is the true measure of engagement. You came through with questions for our CuriousCT feature and answers to our queries when we needed to talk to people about topics in the news.

You called us out when we made a mistake, and we promptly made a correction. You phoned and emailed us about our efforts to maintain your trust, and we listened.

We tried new things in the newsroom, and you came along for the ride.

Our inaugural Chefs, Cocktails and Conversations event, held Nov. 16 at the Breakwater in Stonington Borough, was amazing. Guests enjoyed a delicious meal while listening to veteran reporter Ann Baldelli's compelling interview of restaurant owners Jon Kodama and Mari Kodama Austin. The reviews were great, and we're planning more CC&C events for 2022.

We gathered at The Garde with members of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Community Advisory Board, who are helping us with our mission to better reflect the community.

We're holding our biggest event ever, The Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament, in partnership with Mohegan Sun later this month. Fans of high school and UConn basketball won't want to miss it.

Back in the newsroom, reporters are working on an end-of-the-year series we're calling "Season's Eatings," about cultural and family food traditions. And of course, we're covering the local stories that matter. Among those are two major criminal trials. Staff Writer Taylor Hartz has been in court daily for the trial of the man accused of killing three members of the Lindquist family in Griswold in the state's most vicious crime in a decade. Norwich reporter Claire Bessette has made many trips to federal court in New Haven to cover the trial of utilities executives accused of squandering ratepayer money on lavish trips.

As we finish out the year and plan for 2022, we want to thank you again for donating, subscribing and engaging with The Day.  

Karen Florin is The Day's engagement editor. She can be reached at k.florin@theday.com or (860) 701-4217.