COLLEGE STATION, March 24, 2011 – “Big Event” at Texas A&M University — already the largest one-day student-run service project in the nation — is bigger than ever this year with a record 15,000 Aggie volunteers ready to take on more than 1,500 fix-up or clean-up projects Saturday (March 26).
It’s the Aggies’ way to show appreciation to the Bryan-College Station community for the support they receive throughout their time as students at the university.
“The number of students volunteering to work on projects this year will break the record by more than 2,000,” says Texas A&M student Ryan Byrne, “Big Event” director for 2011. “This kind of response from our students is a testament to just how highly our student body regards selfless service as an integral component of our university.”
It all begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Reed Arena parking lot, where the students will get a rousing send off – and the tools and supplies they will need for the multitude of tasks at hand.
Also new this year, and in support of the student volunteers, PepsiCo is joining with the university to sponsor a free concert by Lee DeWyze, “American Idol” season nine winner.The concert will be at 6 p.m. Sunday (March 27) in Reed Arena.
Organizers say the doors at Reed Arena will open at 4:30 p.m. Sunday so that students and other fans who wish to attend the Aggie baseball game can go to the concert after the game. Free parking will be available in Lots 100a, b, c, 61 and 74 at Reed Arena. Lots 100 e, f and g are used for baseball and softball parking. The concert is free and open to the public. Admission, however, will be limited to the first 9,500 people and seating is on a first come, first serve basis.
“Big Event” began unceremoniously in 1982 with six Aggies volunteering to clean up a local cemetery. Since that time, an ever- increasing number of Aggies have volunteered their time in order to create, as they say, “one big day, one big thanks and one ‘Big Event.’”
The Texas A&M students have taken a leadership role in planning and promoting such large scale community service projects by hosting a “Big Event” conference each year since 2006. The conference is attended by students from other institutions and the Aggie student leaders help them plan similar community service events in their home communities. Through their leadership, “Big Event” has been replicated at 72 other university campuses across the country, though none at the scale of the one in Aggieland.
The “Big Event” student organization raises all the money it needs for materials and tools to do the multitude of jobs, with the help of donations from friends such as the Aggie Mother’s Clubs, The Association of Former Students, community businesses, local residents and other generous individuals.
“We also host an annual ‘Big Event Gala and Silent Auction’ each fall as well as participate in several profit shares with local restaurants at various times throughout the year,” Byrne notes.
PepsiCo, which signed an agreement as Texas A&M’s exclusive beverage provider last year, is the newest organization to help with the event. As the students gather at the Reed Arena parking lot, PepsiCo has provided Big Event T-shirts for them to wear. The company also will provide drinks for the Aggies and send out teams dubbed the “Pepsi Patrol” to job sites where they will deliver product samples of Pepsi products to the students as they work at painting, cleaning, fixing, gardening and other jobs in the community.
“These T-shirts will show that we are united in serving the community and in expressing our message of ‘Thank You’ to all Bryan/College Station residents,” Byrne adds.
Contact: Tura King, News & Information Services, (979) 845-4670 or Ryan Byrne, (979) 845-9618.
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