Over the coming weeks, look for stories that feature the 2017 Spirit of Community Award recipients as we prepare to celebrate this year's awards on March 29. These awards honor members of the WSU community who best exemplify the university's commitment to community engagement.
Whether through reading or feeding, Wayne State University Development Operations Coordinator LaShawnda Wrice has always found ways to make an impact in her community.
As a board member of the 20 Books, Inc. reading program, Wrice has ardently promoted literature and the love of the written word to children and adults alike. She has helped create economic incentives for cash-strapped families to encourage reading, and she has promoted author literacy tools for community libraries.
Along with feeding minds, Wrice also helps feed bodies, working with Evangel Ministries’ and Forgotten Harvest’s food drive efforts around the city of Detroit. Both organizations provide food to impoverished families and individuals during the holidays and beyond.
Wrice’s efforts earned her a Spirit of Community Award in the staff category last year (pictured). The Staff Engagement Award recognizes a Wayne State employee who demonstrates exceptional commitment to service with a nonprofit agency or to coordinating or sustaining projects that make a positive difference in the community.
The 2018 Spirit of Community Awards Ceremony will be held Thursday, March 29, at 3 p.m. in the Community Arts Auditorium with a reception to follow. This event is free and open to the public. For more information and to RSVP, visit rsvp.wayne.edu/spirit-of-community.
Wrice has even found ways to use her own personal challenges to uplift others. Despite having been diagnosed with lupus in 2009, she uses her battle against the disease to create hopeful platforms for others. She created a YouTube broadcast titled “Living with Lupus” that seeks to educate and empower those living with the illness. Along with speaking publicly about her disease, Wrice is involved with the Lupus Foundation of America’s “Put on Purple” program.