The Big Event brings Syracuse University together with City of Syracuse in spirit of service April 12

The Big Event brings Syracuse University together with City of Syracuse in spirit of service April 12April 02, 2008Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

On Saturday, April 12, members of Syracuse University’s Class of 2008, faculty and staff will join forces to complete a variety of community service projects as part of The Big Event: One Big Day of Service and Thanks. In its fourth year, The Big Event connects members of the SU community with nonprofit community agencies within the City of Syracuse for volunteer opportunities such as tutoring, park clean-ups, planting trees and landscaping, interacting with senior citizens and serving meals, among many other activities.

SU students, faculty and staff are welcome to volunteer as individuals or in groups. Information on The Big Event, including online volunteer registration forms, can be found at http://thebigevent.syr.edu. Information can also be obtained by e-mailing orangeseeds@gmail.com.

“The Big Event is a wonderful opportunity for SU students, organizations, faculty and staff to spend a day doing small things to benefit the city we call home,” says Laura Madelone, director of the Office of Orientation and Off-Campus Programs. “With the wide variety of service projects available, spending the day doing good for our community during The Big Event is an easy way to show how much we care about Syracuse.”

The first Big Event was held at Texas A&M University in 1982, when student leaders saw a need to give back to the surrounding community that continually supported their university. The Big Event is now an annual event at more than 50 major universities across the nation.

Sponsored by the OrangeSeeds, the University’s first year-leadership empowerment program, The Big Event has experienced tremendous growth at SU since its inception in 2005. That year, 250 SU volunteers gave their time to benefit 18 community agencies. In 2006, more than 500 volunteers worked with 22 community agencies. This year, organizers are expecting volunteers to be engaged in service with nearly 30 community agencies.

The Big Event is one of three major engagement opportunities available to students, faculty and staff at the end of the Spring 2008 semester. The others are the Earth Day Cleanup, held April 26, and the Ten Tons of Love year-end donation drive, held April 29-May 16. Details of those events will be announced in the coming weeks; for information, call (315) 443-1012 or e-mail oocp@syr.edu.