Lee University students recently made and delivered blankets to the residents of Legacy Village Assisted Living and Memory Care, as part of a Learn, Engage, Achieve Program (LEAP) service project.

Along with Director of LEAP Dr. Angela Waltrip, LEAP staff Jake Fast, academic coordinator; Kathi Douglas, coordinator; and Trio Grant Coach Amber DeLong, initiated the service project.

Each semester, the LEAP staff provide a service project for LEAP scholars to fulfill their service hour requirement. Fifty-five students participated in this project, creating a total of 58 sensory blankets that were delivered to Legacy Village of Cleveland earlier this month.

“As a person who has had family members affected by different memory loss medical issues, I feel that these blankets are a good, tactile way to show that there are those who still care,” said Hannah Meadow, junior anthropology major. “While these patients may not be able to know or remember who these gifts are from, they are designed so that they may grab a hold of them the way that they may not be able to hold onto a memory.”

This past spring, students made Easter wreaths for the same residents at Legacy Village and plan to continue partnering with them for future service projects.

“It has been such a pleasure watching the LEAP students take care when completing service opportunities,” said Douglas. “They have been so caring, giving, and meticulous on every project LEAP has done.”

LEAP started in 2015 and currently serves 140 first-generation or underrepresented students each year who meet the eligibility criteria. The program currently provides individual success coaching, peer mentors, direct student aid, financial aid counseling, financial literacy education, cultural and academic enrichment opportunities, and other personalized services according to individual students’ needs.

For more information about LEAP, visit leeuniversity.edu/leap/.