By ADIA REYNOLDS
Tiger Media Network
What’s big on campus? Why, the Big Event, of course. The Big Event is a nationwide service event that takes place on college campuses. Founded by Texas A&M in 1982, The Big Event gives students a chance to volunteer and give back to various aspects of their local community. This is the 14th year FHSU has participated in The Big Event.
FHSU Student Government Association Public Relations Director Brenna Schwien is in charge of FHSU’s participation in the event. She does everything from setting up the Tigerlink forms, to contacting project sites and communicating with volunteers.
“Being able to give back to a community that has done so much for me is more special than I can even describe,” Schwien said. “There are about 20 different project sites for volunteers to assist with. Each of these projects are different and helps assist a different organization within our community.”
One such example is the Tiger Pantry garden, which requests helpers to tidy and prep beds for this year’s seedlings. Volunteer opportunities during the Big Event aren’t limited to the FHSU campus. Schwien also discusses past opportunities hosted under the Big Event banner.
“Since I am overseeing the entire day and the volunteers, I will not be partaking in a service project this year. In the past, I have helped paint rooms in a church and clean and organized a local daycare,” she said. “Even though I am not actively going to volunteer sites this year, I know that our volunteers are a great help to these various organizations within our community.”
Online students can also participate in The Big Event and can sign up through Tigerlink or Corq. The first 50 online students to participate will receive a custom FHSU t-shirt.
According to Schwien, volunteers can sign up in advance or on the day itself through event check-in tables. FHSU students should use Tigerlink or Corq to sign up and are welcome to contact her with further questions at bhschwien.se@fhsu.edu.