Each year, the Leadership Lackawanna Core Program class completes various service projects to help fulfill a need in this area. This year the team worked with St. Joseph’s Center to equip both the Multi-Purpose and Therapy Room at the Trinity Child Care Center in Dunmore. 

This included purchasing equipment that the staff requires to meet children’s needs in a nurturing environment that enhances each child’s growth and development such as, therapy mats, interactive carpets, sensory tactile sets, booster seats and skill developing games. 

In addition, they are creating a small, outdoor playground area for the children equipped with slides, climbing walls and sensory toys.  A ribbon cutting for this team is planned for the fall. 

By working with fellow non-profit organizations, participants expand their leadership abilities, build teamwork, develop resourcefulness, engender a sense of accomplishment through the impact such projects have on the community, and further develop their skills. 

Projects give participants the opportunity to assess and evaluate how well they work with others to develop a group, reach a consensus, and solve problems in order to reach a common goal. This year, the Core Program Class of 2019 raised more than $43,600 in cash and in-kind donations to complete four service projects. 

Leadership Lackawanna’s efforts benefited these other outstanding Lackawanna County-based organizations:

*By transforming the lobby of the Ritz Theater on Wyoming Avenue in downtown Scranton, the class has brought this iconic landmark back to life.  With an emphasis on historic significance, the team created a vibrant, living display including archival photos, advertisements, and images pertaining to the theater, as well as genuine artifacts found in the Ritz Theater’s collection.   

*This team transformed a room inside the NEPA Youth Shelter into a creative musical space hence providing teens with a safe place to express themselves and showcase their musical abilities. The room is furnished with state-of-the-art sound recording equipment and software and includes a sound-proof studio recording booth.   

*This team has transformed the Junior Ballroom, in the lower level of the building, to a functional black box theater. They developed the overall design, marketing strategies, implementation and construction of the space. which included installing lights, configuring audio equipment, and hanging curtains.  

Now complete, the space can be used for productions including summer campers and musical dance productions. Additionally, classes and workshops for all ages in acting, improvisation, musical theater, and dance will be held in the space.

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SHOWN ABOVE: Leadership Lackawanna, the region’s premier community leadership development organization, recently held its first Welcome Scranton! program. Welcome Scranton! gives participants an insider’s look at our community over the course of two and a half days.

Class members included, front row, from left: Jennie Knies, Penn State Scranton; Dominick Mitchell, program coordinator, Leadership Lackawanna; Nicole Morristell, executive director, Leadership Lackawanna; Mike Vivlemore, Tobyhanna Army Depot, and Michele Santaniello, Fidelity Bank.

Back row: Lindsey Billen, Commonwealth Health/Regional Hospital of Scranton; Elizabeth Turner, Olyphant Self Storage; Michele Nicoteri, Penn State Scranton; Pam Fisher, Benco Dental; Henry Matute, Penn State Scranton; Mechele Greene, Matthew A. Berger, MD; Lissandra Bertagnoli, Prudential; and Erica Burger, NBT Bank.

Jeanne Hugenbruch, St. Joseph’s Center, was also a member of this class.