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Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Layne, with Mani Ellis and Layne PLLC, a local law firm dedicated to community service, said he’s seen a trend of people coming together to help one another more, especially in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä. He helped form the Better Together CWV nonprofit with ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Councilwoman Jennifer Pharr, Harry Bell and Tony Paranzino and has continued that spirit of service and giving back by collaborating with Lee.

Layne and Lee have a mutual friend, longtime radio personality Woody Woods, who was responsible for bringing them together on Lee’s community service initiatives that needed help, support or funding, Layne said.

“That’s where we come in, because my firm wants to always work with people on a more local level, non-corporatized involvement, things where we think we can make an impact — a lot like Leeshia, I think,� Layne said. “She wants to do things on her own local level, and we want to be involved in the same way.�

Lee is the creator of the Fairy Boss Mothers and Game Changers event, which allows kids to interact with their “future selves,� meeting with volunteers from various careers and walks of life.

“There are people who will donate and then there are people who will donate, show up and actually take part in whatever initiative we have,� Lee said. “So many people are caught up in who gets the credit and whose name goes on it, but I tend to work with people who don’t mind working with each other for the greater cause. I couldn’t do it all alone; I have a great support system, a great group of friends and people who just automatically show up for the event.�

The Fairy Boss Mothers and Game Changers event is like a human scavenger hunt, she said.

“They have to go around and find out who’s who, and they have to talk to the people, find out about their career and ask questions,� Lee said. “A lot of people think that the kids will be shy or they wouldn’t be interested, and it’s actually the total opposite.�

The Fairy Boss Mothers and Game Changers nonprofit mentoring event has been going on for five years, and it’s one of the biggest events Lee organizes. Free of charge, Lee wants to make sure every child who wants to participate will have that chance.

“I try to keep everything that I do free because I don’t want there to be a reason why a kid can’t come,� she said. “It’s really a community event, and I appreciate everybody who supports with their time, resources, financially or just getting the word out.�

When Layne heard more about Lee’s community service efforts, he said he wanted to become more involved and help any way he could.

“I went to Leeshia after I saw what she was doing and how she was doing it,� he said. “I just said we want to be involved in all your projects. Wherever you can use us, we’re happy, ready, willing and able to be involved in everything that you’re doing. So we have adopted Leeshia’s nonprofit work as our firm project. That’s how much fun we have with it, and it just ripples out to other things.�

Layne participated in this year’s Fairy Boss Mothers and Game Changers event. Lee said she remembers Layne being nervous, unsure the kids would want to talk to him; turns out, they were eager, engaged and interactive.

“The kids were super impressive. They looked you in the eye, shook your hand and had specific questions they had to ask and elicit certain answers,� he said. “I love interacting with the kids.�

A goal for this “party with a purpose� event is to teach children networking and interpersonal communication skills as well.

“This event is to bring them those basic communication skills to show them how to talk to people, how to interact with people and how they would move as their future selves,� she said. “It’s very important for them to see people who come from where they come from doing what they want to do. Sometimes all it takes is somebody to show up for the kids.�

“Leisha did talk to them extensively about networking and interpersonal communication, how to do that, and why that’s important now and going forward in your life,� Layne said. “The inclination is not to be terrifically verbally interactive, but that’s a skill that if you lack upon entering the workforce, it’s going to be to your detriment. I love the theme of that.�

Lee’s next event is Jump Shots for Jackets at 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at West Side Middle School. The goal is to get 200 new coats donated to be distributed to kids in need this winter.

Having grown up in Orchard Manor in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä, Lee wants to give back to the kids there now.

“I used to work with the after-school program in Orchard Manor, and I know now it’s cool for kids not to wear coats, but a lot of the kids didn’t have coats; I wasn’t for sure they didn’t wear coats because they didn’t have one or they were just being cool,� she said. “But some days it would be too cold to not have on a coat.�

Not wanting to single out anyone, Lee came up with the Jump Shots for Jackets event in 2018, a basketball game co-hosted with Woods. That first year they raised enough to get coats for all the housing projects’ after-school programs, and this year the event is coming back after a COVID-19 pause.

The community she grew up in continues to influence Lee, and she gives back as much as she can; from a young age, she said, her grandfather imparted to her the importance of community.

“I see a need for something, and people think that equity is making everything equal, but it is applying the greatest resources to the area that needs it most,� Lee said. “Coming from where I come from, the community that I grew up in, we were taught to make something out of nothing.�

Lee said she works with people who don’t let roadblocks stop them, putting on events and celebrations when others might let small factors deter them and being able to adapt.

“If somebody tells you no, you just find a way, you don’t stop,� she said. “That is why I keep going, because you might have told me no or it might not work out this way, but we’re still going to do it. That’s my thing, to showcase that no matter where you come from, it always matters where you plan on going.�

Layne said he and his firm saw an incredible impact happening for kids through Lee’s events and efforts.

“There’s a lot of people that run from the gap, and she runs into it,� Layne said. “She wants to figure out how to solve it, and we’re here to try to help her to the best of our abilities to solve it.�

Earlier this year, Lee helped organize a 50 Years of Hip-Hop block party celebration, bringing in Newark City Councilman Dupre� Kelly as a celebrated guest. Kelly was in the hip-hop group Lords of the Underground.

“The celebration of rap to some people might have had a more confined meaning, but it’s not; it has tremendous cultural meaning,� Layne said. “(Kelly) appeared and it brought even more meaning because it demonstrates to kids the positive influence we can have in any culture, and he showed how his life story kept guiding him to this higher calling where he’s affecting his community. For him to come down here and share his time and share his story and to interact with people in our community, accolades to Leeshia.�

Lee’s children’s book, “Based On A Woo Story,� based on her time growing up at Orchard Park, caught the attention of Kelly. She said the tremendously successful hip-hop celebration meant a lot to have in West Virginia because it shows the state is not isolated because of its size or rural or small towns — rather, it shares similarities with other places.

“Things that people are doing elsewhere could also work here, and things that we’re doing here could also work elsewhere,� she said. “Some people think that hip-hop or the culture of hip-hop is a Black thing or African-American thing, but that’s not entirely true. I think music is the one thing that unites people, and we wanted to do a block party to celebrate that.�

Lee and Layne have a common goal, as do many of those in the community they work with: to serve others. Layne said he would encourage community members looking to get involved to reach out to Lee.

“Leeshia is a powerhouse in this community, and if they contact Leeshia, there is no set contribution what they can bring to the table,� he said. “I would encourage them to just call Leeshia and ask how to help, how to be of assistance, because we need more people to fill the need that we have — not less.�