By Aubrianna Brown 
 
Lee University students recently made and delivered “memory blankets” to the residents of Legacy Village Assisted Living and Memory Care as part of a LEAP (Learn Engage Achieve Program) service project. 
 
“This service project is very important because it allows students to connect with our senior friends,” said Dr. Angela Waltrip, director of LEAP. “Our students take great pride and care in making each blanket, knowing it will be given to a special senior. Through this experience, students come to understand the importance of community and connection, and this project becomes their way of reaching out to those who are just a little wiser with a gift of love.” 
 
According to Waltrip, the project began during the pandemic when nursing home residents were unable to have contact with those outside their facilities. “Despite those limitations, LEAP students still found a way to serve, and the memory care blanket project was born.” 
 
The memory blankets, which require no sewing, are small, brightly colored lap blankets adorned with fringes, appliques, buttons, and textures, providing memory care patients with objects to see, touch, and fidget with.   
 
“The LEAP project is truly something special,” said LEAP student Samara Pedigo. “It allows students to use their creativity to create a meaningful gift that will help someone else. These blankets are more than just a service project — they are gifts for people who have lived full lives before our own. Through this experience, I’ve learned that compassion grows through selfless service, and that something as simple as a blanket can give back in ways we never imagined.” 
 
Each semester, the LEAP Office organizes a service project for LEAP Scholars to complete as part of their service hour requirement. A total of 59 students, along with Waltrip, LEAP peer mentors, student workers, and staff members Josh Alexander and Jocelyn VanSandt, participated in this project. Together, they created 37 sensory blankets, which were delivered to Legacy Village of Cleveland earlier this month. 
 
“As I reflected with the students, many shared that while they understood how this project would impact others, they also recognized how deeply it impacted them,” said VanSandt. “They spoke about how the project reflected a biblical mandate to serve others as Christ served.” 
 
LEAP started in 2015 and currently serves 140 first-generation or underrepresented students each year who meet the eligibility criteria. The program 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 www.leeuniversity.edu/leap/.