College LEO Club busy volunteering this year
After 50 years of community service, the college group wanted to celebrate its achievements. So its members worked even harder.
This year, Criminal Justice Policing students in Lethbridge College’s LEO Club took part in more than 40 volunteer events, providing more than 1,000 hours of volunteer time.
They also raised nearly $8,000 to support a dozen different community and global organizations.
“We wanted to give our club members — who are all CJ students — a wide variety of different events and organizations that they could participate with,” explains Scott Sigfusson, past president of the club. “And we wanted to increase our positive impact within the community through volunteering.”
Founded in 1967, the club is part of Lions Clubs International.
“The LEO Club at Lethbridge College is significant to both the students and the communities they come from and will be living in,” says program instructor Dave Maze. “Volunteering is a critical part of any community, as most communities could not afford to provide the services they do without volunteers.
“Participating with LEOs builds responsible citizenship in our students and facilitates the development of positive experiences in community mindedness.”
Lethbridge organizations the club assisted this year include the Lethbridge College Students’ Association Food Bank, YWCA, Boys and Girls Club, the Ability Resource Centre, Schizophrenia Society, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Lethbridge Family Services and Lethbridge Police Victim Services.
The group also supported Wounded Warriors Canada and collected money to make tuition payments for a student in Sierra Leone.
“As post-secondary students who understand the importance of access to education, the club again this year made a donation to support a university student in Sierra Leone for tuition and books,” Maze says.
Most recently, members volunteered at a charity hockey game between the Lethbridge Police Service and the Lethbridge Fire Services, raising money to support the Humboldt Broncos.
LEO clubs — “Leadership, Experience, Opportunity” — are operating in 140 nations around the world, with more than 160,000 members. While any post-secondary group may organize one, the Lethbridge College group has focused on students enrolled in policing, justice and earlier programs.
Barb Mantello, chair of justice studies at the college, says the club is “a natural extension of the rich history that justice programming has within the college.”
It reinforces the competencies that hiring agencies ask of program graduates, she says, including teamwork, adaptability, ethical accountability and responsibility, problem solving and interactive communication. “The students who work with the LEO Club develop leadership skills and a true appreciation of what will be expected of them as public servants in communities across Western Canada.”
Follow @DMabell Herald on Twitter