On April 12, the University of West Georgia, UWG, hosted its first big event. The Big Event is one of the largest, one-day, student run service projects in the nation. This event is catered to community service, not just on campus but also in the Carroll County community. Faculty, staff and students who are a involved in different organizations woke up at early in the morning to help make this project success.
The event started at 8:00 a.m. with the many volunteers coming to register and find out the projects that they are assigned to. Once 8:30 a.m. hit the clock, the opening ceremony started with a description of what the Big Event was and words from the president, Dr. Kyle Marrero. The different organizations and individual volunteers then departed as they set off to make the community a better place. All projects were to end at 12 p.m. although some projects may have gotten a little carried away and ended a little later.
Some of the projects were off campus and involved cleaning parks, washing windows, painting and other outside activities. Projects that were on campus were book sorting of which there were 1,238 books collected and sorted. In another room, volunteers were making and decorating cards. Students made peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the homeless, and students also went to help children.
This event turned out to be a big success with it being UWG’s first event. Faculty were surprised with the number of students that woke up early in the morning for such an event.
“I really like to help the community,” said Elaya Walker, senior at UWG. “I think this is a really fun way to get involved.”
“Even though it’s really early,” Beancca Sainvil, freshman, “I’m here because I like helping people no matter what it is.”
The Center for Student Involvement, CSI, had other school based organizations such as the orientation staff to help orchestrate the event. They even had the help from local non-profit organizations in the Carrollton area. Some students had the pleasure in working with these organizations during the event.
The Big Event was the conclusion to the West Georgia Cares Week, which is a way for faculty, staff and students to show how they can make an impact the lives of others. It was a way of saying thanks to the surrounding community for all the help and support they have shown to the student and to the university as a whole.
For more information on how to get involved with campus activities contact the CSI office at csi@westga.edu and for those who want to know more about volunteer work around campus and in the community, contact Dustin Killpack at dkillpac@westga.edu. UWG is always looking for volunteers for community service projects and so much more. So if anyone is looking to build their resume and need community service and extracurricular activities, the Center for Student Involvement is the place to go.
