By Charity Parris

Lee University’s Leonard Center will kick off its Leadership Development Project this semester. Participating Lee students will carry out individual, student-led service projects funded by a NobleCause grant.

“This particular program goes beyond service at Lee,” said Elizabeth Sanders, fellow for the project and Leonard Center intern. “This project stretches students to grow and take what they’ve learned with them throughout their lives.”

The goal of the Leadership Development Project is to train students to use leadership skills to successfully design, propose, and complete a service project. Taking place during Lee’s 2017 spring break, these projects are designed for students to devote a full week to service learning. While some recipients will stay in Cleveland to carry out their projects, others will be traveling to locations such as Atlanta and New York City.

Having received the $6,500 grant in 2016, the Leonard Center divided the funds and awarded distributions to provide financial resources for five service projects. To apply for the grant distribution, students developed and submitted a proposal for an original service project, designed specifically as an outreach opportunity for community development.

Five professional seminars focused on topics such as grant writing, measuring success of projects, and fundraising, among others, will be available this semester to both the grant recipients and the project participants. According to Dr. William Lamb, director of Lee’s Leonard Center, educating students on the resources available to make proposals appealing will prepare them for future projects.

“We aspire to show students that no matter what stage they are in life, they can serve and learn,” said Lamb. “Our goal is to equip them with the tools to serve as effective leaders, especially among their peers.”

Service-learning at Lee is guided by the Leonard Center and is designed to prepare students for Christian citizenship through reflective community interactions that encourage a commitment to the ideals of service, benevolence, civic virtue, and social justice.

This project was sponsored by NobleCause, made possible by an anonymous donor within the GiveWell Community Foundation and organized by Noblehour.com, a volunteer management tool that promotes a culture of civic engagement and charts meaningful, measurable acts of
goodness.

For more information about service at Lee, visit Service Learning.

For more information about the NobleCause grant, visit site.