This past Saturday, more than 2,800 student volunteers from various campus organizations came together for one big day of community service sponsored by the Student Government Association.
“This event is really important because of our motto, Ut Prosim, which means ‘That I May Serve’” said Brian Torgersen, senior industrial & systems engineering major and director of Big Event. “It’s a great way for students to get out in the community and serve in different ways.”
Volunteers completed over 400 jobs, ranging from raking leaves and landscaping to painting and cleaning windows. Residents in the community were able to request the aid of a work team, detailing jobs that they needed done around their properties. The only stipulation was that the jobs could not involve power tools of any kind.
The large turnout marked another year of growth for the Big Event. Last year, the event boasted 2,100 students and 250 jobs in the community, illustrating the continual increase in campus participation since the event began. In 2002, the first year that Big Event was held, 475 students showed up to aid in 60 jobs.
“It’s not only a big tradition, but one that is growing each year, as you can see,” said Elizabeth Hart, senior communication and hotel and tourism management major and director of public relations for SGA. “Every year, we have more and more jobs, but the Virginia Tech community never lets us down. People definitely know that our students are available and willing to give back to their community.”
The main source of sponsorship this year came in the form of a $10,000 check from Northwestern Mutual.
“The original founder of Big Event works for that company and so we’ve been able to keep close relations with them,” said Min Kim, senior finance major and treasurer for Big Event.
No specific problems emerged this year that demanded attention, so the main goal for next year’s Big Event is to keep things running smoothly.
“As you add more and more students, things get more and more complicated, so our goal is always to make organization and logistics easier on everyone,” said Torgersen.
Next year the event directors are hoping to spread to other schools.
“Of course, more money is always a good goal, but the funds we need depend on how big we plan on expanding for next year,” said Kim. “Ultimately, our goal is to expand to all the colleges, but right now we will just focus on bigger, better jobs here.”