Ahead of OU’s 23rd annual The Big Event, volunteers and organizers anticipate 4,200 volunteers and hope to see it return to its pre-pandemic numbers in coming years.
The Big Event is an OU-led annual day of community service where students, faculty and staff volunteer at dozens of work sites across Norman and Oklahoma City.
On Saturday, The Big Event will include around 180 worksites and 4,200 volunteers, an increase over the past three years, according to Nick Lamis, The Big Event supply coordinator, and Avery Dickinson, The Big Event vice chair of campus engagement.
Dickinson said The Big Event’s number of volunteers has increased by about 1,000 volunteers since 2021. However, she said the numbers are still almost 2,000 shy of pre-pandemic years. She said she hopes the steady increase will continue to eventually reflect The Big Event’s volunteer numbers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We used to serve, before COVID, at about 6,000 to 5,000 a year, so we’ve decreased a lot, but we’re slowly trying to build it back up,” Dickinson said.
Lamis said The Big Event’s job site locations are chosen by a job site securement team, as well as through referrals and registration. He said the job site securement team communicates with areas in need of assistance and The Big Event supplies volunteers to perform, work and help with a variety of tasks.
“(A job site) could be elderly people who can't afford yard work or could just be an organization that needs cleaning done,” Lamis said. “You're helping somebody but also gaining valuable experience.”
Elisabeth Housley, The Big Event’s vice chair of sponsorship, said any faculty, professors and students with an ID can volunteer. She also added that The Big Event has been opened up this year to allow alumni and high school students to join. She said The Big Event has plans for another service event in the fall.
“This year, we have opened it up to some alumni groups and also high schoolers,” Housley said. “We try to invite as many people as we're able to outside of OU, but mostly it's going to be students.”
Housley said The Big Event provides students with an opportunity to serve in the Norman and Oklahoma City communities with hopes they will continue to volunteer.
“Our mission is community through service,” Housley said. “We try to offer an opportunity to serve and give (students) that initial experience and hope that they follow up with it and want to do it more often.”
The Big Event will be held on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Prior to the event, The Big Event will host an opening ceremony with free breakfast, photos and guest speakers starting at 8 a.m.
This story was edited by Karoline Leonard and Alexia Aston. Teegan Smith and Nikkie Aisha copy edited this story.
