From left Leonard Center staff members Sydney Underwood, Elizabeth Sanders, Tyler Shores, Valerie Floyd and Dr. William Lamb, director of Leonard Center.
Lee University’s nationally-recognized Leonard Center was awarded a NobleCause grant to bolster its service leadership program among students.
“On average, Lee staff and students contribute over 74,000 hours of service each year through a variety of partnerships,” said Dr. William Lamb, director of the Leonard Center. “One of the best practices of these service partnerships occurs when Lee students are provided with the opportunity to develop their leadership skills while serving. The goal of developing servant leaders will be helped greatly by the generosity of the NobleCause grant.”
The Leonard Center plans on using the $6,500 grant to initiate their Service Leadership Development Project. The project will train student leaders through the establishment of a competitive mini-grant program that will fund student-led, alternative spring break service projects. This grant will provide financial resources for student clubs and organizations to partner with other nonprofit organizations that have minimal resources to help them address unmet needs within the community.
Lee student Elizabeth Sanders, a sophomore business administration major and Leonard Center intern, was recently named fellow for the project. Her role will include acting as a student liaison between the Leonard Center and organizations on campus and implementing grant objectives.
“I am so excited for the opportunity to further Lee University’s service program in this new way,” said Ms. Sanders. “I have been passionate about this program since I began at Lee, and I think this grant takes it to a level of entirely new possibilities.”
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.
The NobleCause grant exists to aid organizations and colleges in their goals to promote social responsibility and volunteerism. According to NobleCause, all grant recipients demonstrate the ability to raise community awareness, foster partnerships, and cultivate leaders who take action.
This grant was awarded on behalf of Noblehour through the generosity of an anonymous donor within the GiveWell Community Foundation.
The NobleCause grant competition invites high schools, school districts, colleges and universities, and nonprofits to identify and address a local challenge and to recruit and enrich the social responsibility of volunteers. Noblehour.com is dedicated to using NobleCause to increase volunteerism that raises awareness at the local level and develops community members who can take action.
For more information about Lee’s Leonard Center, visit service@leeuniversity.edu.