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As students in the Leadership Raleigh class, members learn about the community in the areas of Quality of Life, Law Enforcement, Human Services, Health, Government, Economy, Education, and Media. A major component of the class is to work on a team project to provide service in one of the study areas. The impact of these projects, and the concept of individual responsibility for community service, which is learned in the class, carries over long after each class graduates.
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Most team projects are in the areas of Health, Human Services, and Education, such as those described below and on the Leadership Raleigh Program page. Some community projects that are still ongoing did not begin as "team projects," but resulted from the Leadership Raleigh network or from interests and needs discovered during the Leadership Raleigh class. Two examples follow. (1) The Courthouse Kids Center evolved in the mind and network of a lawyer who is an LR graduate and provides child care for kids whose parents are in court on that day, so that the kids won't be subjected to the sometimes-contentious court proceedings. (2) The county-wide Telephone Directory Recycling Program has collected and recycled over 4,200 tons of telephone directories since its inception by 1990 LR classmates and is still an annual program of the Wake County Solid Waste Division.
Some projects have attracted the attention of LR teams for several years. The Christmas in April Program has been a focus of at least four Leadership Raleigh teams and has also been a signature project of the Leadership Raleigh Alumni Association, which has assisted in refurbishing the homes of low-income homeowners in a one-day flurry of activity.
People for Parks, Interact, Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, and Loaves and Fishes Ministries, Inc. have also provided project challenges for more than one Leadership Raleigh team.
Job access, linkages, and career information are favorite topics of Leadership Raleigh teams. Teams have worked in this area of community service with The Women's Center, Greater Raleigh Merchants Association/Job Link Center, and Loaves and Fishes Ministries, Inc.
Assistance with internal and external communications needs and promotion is also a project specialty. Teams have shared their expertise in this area with the Wake County Literacy Council, Wake County Smart Start, Volunteer Families for Children of NC, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, and the NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Teams have worked to expand and promote educational programs and after-school/summer programs for students in projects with the North Carolina 4-H Program at their camps and Wake County Smart Start, Inc.
And teams have looked internally to improve the Leadership Raleigh program in the areas of Creating Diversity and developing a Volunteer Database to identify possible volunteer candidates to fill vacancies and serve on area boards and commissions.
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