Student leaders project sparks joy in the community

Georgia Lambert and fellow Griffith Business School Student Leaders arrive at Alzheimer's Queensland to drop off care packages for residents

Student leaders from Griffith Business School (GBS) have sparked joy with deliveries of care packages for members of the Brisbane community suffering from alzheimers and dementia.

Final year dual degree Business and International Tourism student Georgia Lambert said participating in the Little Spark project, one of her last university activities before graduating next month, was both rewarding and fulfilling.

“The Little Spark project was an opportunity for us to get together in teams and give back to some of the different facilities associated with Alzheimer’s Queensland,” she explained.

“I think it was definitely a great chance for us to have a think about how we could help out a group that was struggling, especially with Covid and also a great way to break away from our studies and have a bigger impact on the community.”

“I helped put together a collection of brain therapy books, which were different puzzles and games and activities that could help to stimulate the minds of residents and provide them with some fun activities to do.”

Professor Rosemary Stockdale, Dean of Engagement at GBS, said the packages ranged from goodie bags for residents without family or visitors, through to gardening club kits, cooking club, memory bags, sensory bags, happy hour trolley and care packages for the staff of the facilities.

“Some of the teams delivered incredible packages, for instance, a male memory bag was designed to assist residents with memory recall, for that the team sourced ties, an old hat, Elvis merchandise, an old cassette tape and photos of Brisbane in the 50s/60s, and they brought along an old suitcase with no wheels to put it all into,” she said.

“The GBS Student Leadership Program offers our students the opportunityto broaden and develop their leadership skills and also instil in our university students theimportanceof giving back.”

The packages have now been delivered to three different facilities based at Rosalie, Ipswich and Garden City.

Griffith Business School Student Leaders delivered care packages from their ‘Little Spark’ Project to Alzheimers Queensland