Volunteer Spotlight

Lucile B. Leggett


Photo: Abdul Sahrif

Question: How many volunteer hours does it take to qualify for the title of  STAR of VOLUNTEERISM?

Answer: Enough to add up to 26 years. And who do we know who qualifies for the title? We’re proud to say, we know Lucile B. Leggett.

Yup! When Lucile retired from teaching in 1985, she took up the cloak of volunteerism and has been wearing it ever since.


One last question: When did this all begin?

The answer? It’s unclear when it began. But Lucile’s initial interest in volunteering as a tutor or mentor for JCPS students dates back to 1985 when she retired as an elementary school teacher and began her volunteer career.

What volunteer activity has earned her support? Almost any activity you can imagine, including tutoring and mentoring mainly in JCPS elementary schools. But she has never shown any preference for a specific level for working and points out that “there are kids at every level who need help. I go where there’s a need.” And she hasn’t limited her service to schools alone but has given many hours of support to service in the community.

Why does she spend so much of her time serving the community? “We all should volunteer when we can, as members of our community. We need to help one another,” she points out. And Lucile has done more than her share.

Lucile has turned the soil over to make tomatoes and corn available for residents in the West End of Louisville through the Community Garden project. (Her work at the garden brought her a special recognition award from Louisville’s former mayor, Dave Armstrong.) Last spring she was recognized for the garden project again by Mayor Greg Fischer. Along the same line, she is an active volunteer for the annual PNC Brightside cleanup.

Some of her other interests? Helping out at the Louisville Central Community Center, the Plymouth Renewal Center, the Louisville Urban League, the Block Watch Club, and the Fourth Street Development project.

Lucile is enthusiastic about getting out in the community and helping where help is needed. But she’s not all work and no play. Indeed not! She’s a dancer as well, and when interviewed for this article, she demonstrated her dance skills by joining her church group in a rendition of the Cupid Shuffle.

Lucile has recently taken up biking, a sport she enjoyed some years ago, but had retired from. Now she has changed her mind and is biking again. Look to see her somewhere between 21st and 22nd streets. If you do see her, be sure to wave!