Frogs leap at the chance to serve
By Blair Busch and
Catherine Pillsbury
Staff Reporters

A small circle formed around Chris Mattingly as he danced, did impressions and flopped on the ground in front of Mission Arlington Saturday.

“The key to getting others excited is to be excited yourself,” said Mattingly, a senior international finance major.

Students were at Mission Arlington, a food and clothing bank, as one of the 27 opportunities for community service through TCU LEAPS.

At 11 a.m., 28 school buses full of students, faculty and staff, pulled away from the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum on their way to volunteer at locations throughout Fort Worth and Arlington.

LEAPS is a campuswide day of community service that has been around for six years, said Robin Williamson, director of community service.

LEAPS Director Shelly Taylor said she was impressed with the number of people who took part in LEAPS.

“It was incredible that 700 people woke up early on a Saturday morning to do community service,” said Taylor, a senior business management major.

Kendra Folry was the service coordinator for LEAPS who contacted the sites that needed volunteers.

“We got a lot accomplished with the number of people that showed up,” said Folry, a senior speech language pathology major. “The people who showed up were the ones who really cared and wanted to do the work.”

Tillie Burgin, director of Mission Arlington, said the organization was pleased with the number of volunteers and the quality of their work.

“We had the volunteers doing everything from moving dirt to helping in the apartments, unloading trucks and moving furniture,” Burgin said.

Smaller groups helped sorting food at the Tarrant Area Food Bank and visited residents at the Stonegate Nursing Center, Taylor said.

Other volunteers went to organizations such as Ronald McDonald House, Lighthouse for the Blind of Fort Worth, Women’s Haven of Tarrant County and Cook Children’s Medical Center.

There were four categories volunteers could choose from: cleaning, building, organizing and visiting, Taylor said.

Senior political science major Heath Coffman said LEAPS allowed a unique opportunity to get involved with the world outside TCU.

“There’re plenty of ways to get involved on campus,” Coffman said. “But not many that involve the community.”

Ben Williams, a senior finance and accounting major, said LEAPS was a rewarding experience.

“Everyone makes a small sacrifice,” Williams said. “And that makes a big difference.”