Save the date Saturday, April 27! Dating back to 2005, every year the Grand Forks community has come together with the common goal of spreading positivity through community service. The Big Event is made possible thanks to the committee’s dedication behind the scenes that helps organize and fundraise the money necessary for setting up the event.
Last year over 500 volunteers from differing student organizations on campus came together and accomplished their object of “Do Work,” the effective motto that is embroidered across the t-shirts that are given out during the event. The hope is that this year proves to be no different.
Regarding the actual volunteer work that is done within the Grand Forks community during The Big Event varies, whether it is helping pick up trash or cleaning up leaves for a Seniors home, there are countless volunteer opportunities that The Big Event offers within Grand Forks.
I had the privilege to be one of those volunteers this past year, and it proved to be an experience that has stuck with me as I look forward to partaking in The Big Event once again in 2024. I signed up for the event through my involvement in Greek Life under the Greek Organization that I am a part of and was able to volunteer alongside my friends. This made the experience both more rewarding and fun by adding a social aspect to the event as well.
The event initially started off in the morning at the Wellness Center on campus and ran into the mid to late afternoon. You are guided to differing tables comprised of the event’s organizers, in which your T-Shirt is handed out to you and your group is sectioned off within the gym. Once everyone is done settling in and people have found the groups that they will be working with, each group was assigned a particular task within the community, offered supplies, and set off to “Do Work.”
At the end of the event, you return the supplies loaned out to your group after the completion of your assigned task, and you are free to continue with the rest of your day.
What made last year’s event so special for me was getting a chance to see the entire UND community come together at the same time and give back. Prior to partaking in The Big Event, I had never partaken in much community service work, largely since I struggled finding a platform that enabled me to do so. However, thanks to the dedicated work that The Big Event committee evidently puts in on the front end of setting up the event and marketing it to students and organizations on campus, I was, alongside with many of friends, enabled to give back and make a positive impact on our community.
Looking forward now into the future, The Big Event is scheduled to take place this upcoming year at the Wellness Center, and more than 30 different student organizations on campus are already planning to take part in it.
If you are not signed up but want to take part in The Big Event this upcoming spring, the good news is that it is not too late. All that you must do is visit The Big Event’s Instagram page at thebigeventund and click on the link within their bio regarding signing up. Based on my own experience, an increased sense of community and wellbeing correlates with volunteer work. I would like to challenge you to “Do Work” this upcoming Big Event in 2024 and become a part of something that is greater than yourself.
Daniel Silva is a Dakota Student General Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].
