Once again, The Big Event, an annual community service event, will return to Laramie this Saturday, October 13 at 9 a.m. in Simpsons Plaza. For as long as the university has existed, the community of Laramie has shown boundless support to students. As a sign of thanks and reciprocated support, SLCE has organized this event and members of the university have the opportunity to take part in service-oriented activities to better the community.
The Big Event is a national event that originated in 1982 at Texas A&M University. Since then it has become the largest one-day, student-run service day in the U.S. It takes place at 95 other school communities across the nation and international schools in countries such as Australia, Italy, Germany and Spain. The event started at our university in 2013 as the kick-off to homecoming week with 700 students participating and has occurred every year since.
As the University of Wyoming students come together for this event, promotion of campus and community unity will take place. The Big Event endorses the ideals of service and harmony and is not based upon socioeconomic need, but instead a means for our students to express their appreciation for all the support that the surrounding community continues to provide.
In alignment with the name of the event, the university hopes to make this as large of an event as possible to show just how thankful we are for everything the community does for the university. Students will be able to sign up as individuals, groups of friends or as organizations such as RSOs, ASUW and Greek Life.
Members of the community will also have the opportunity to request jobs. These job requests can include things such as raking leaves, gutter cleaning, painting, yard work or other similar tasks. Student crews for these jobs will be available from around 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the day of the event. Regardless of weather, The Big Event will occur, so community members are asked to please request jobs while also considering the potential forecast.
To sign up or request a job, please visit www.uwyo.edu/union/slce/service/bigevent.html. This website also provides more information about the event as well as a promotional video for the event. Students are encouraged to take part of this event and support the community that has given so much to the university to be thankful for over the years.
