2018 Rogers Scholar Kenzie Lacefield of Whitley County delivered 85 care baskets to patients at Heritage Nursing Home in Corbin for her community service project. Each basket contained a bottle of lotion, a tube of chapstick, an activity book, and a box of Kleenex.
For several months, Kenzie Lacefield has accompanied Central Baptist Church every Tuesday night to minister to the patients at Heritage Nursing Home in Corbin.
Lacefield, a 2018 graduate of The Center for Rural Development’s Rogers Scholars program, decided to organize nursing home care baskets for her community service project.
“When I was at Heritage Nursing Home, I saw patients who just wanted someone to love them and show them that they cared,” said Lacefield, a senior at Corbin High School. “I saw an opportunity to help spread love to a group of people who needed it. I was able to do that through this community service project.”
Lacefield coordinated the project with nursing home officials to see what she needed to include in the care baskets. Each basket contained a bottle of lotion, a tube of chapstick, an activity book, and a box of Kleenex.
She collected the items through community donations and delivered the baskets to 85 nursing home patients.
“Several patients asked me, ‘Why did you do this for me?’ with tears in their eyes,” Lacefield recalled. “My only response was, ‘Because we love you.’ This project hit close to home, because for several months I have been investing in these people’s lives on Tuesday nights, just trying to show them that they are loved. I believe this project sealed the deal to show them just how much they are loved by the people around them.”
Lacefield is the daughter of Jim and Tammy Lacefield.