The University of Central Arkansas will host The Big Event Saturday, March 9 throughout Conway.
UCA students organize The Big Event, which allows students, faculty and staff come together to give back to the Conway community through volunteer service.
The Big Event, which began at Texas A&M University in 1982, has spread to colleges and universities throughout the nation. This event, which takes place each spring semester, is an opportunity for students to serve the community that supports them year round.
“We look forward to this annual tradition as an opportunity to get out, rain or shine, and meet some of our neighbors who make this such a wonderful community in which to live and learn,” said Dr. Lesley Graybeal, director of service-learning in the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement at UCA.
Now in its sixth year at UCA, The Big Event has grown every year. This year, the student-led organizing committee has recruited more than 100 projects from Conway residents and nonprofit organizations, along with 950 volunteers to go out into the community and serve.
Student “team leaders” will work with committee members to visit each project site and to lead a group of volunteers on the big day. Volunteers will complete a variety of indoor and outdoor tasks for Conway organizations and residents, ranging from raking leaves, spreading mulch, painting and minor repairs, to organizing donated goods, participating in games and activities with senior citizens or completing other proposed projects.
For more information, contact Graybeal at (501) 852-7416 or lgraybeal@uca.edu; or Rachel Carmical, Big Event Job Coordinator, at (501) 425-3372 or ucabejobs@gmail.com. More details about The Big Event can also be found at ucaledu/go/bigevent.
