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Page 3 • Friday, March 26, 1999
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Students given chance to say 'thank you' to
community through service on Saturday
Story by Amy Daugherty • Photo Illustration by Guy Rogers & Sallie Turner
cc
o
ne big day...One big
thanks...One Big
Event.” What started
in 1982 with six Texas A&M stu
dents cleaning out a local ceme
tery has transformed into the
largest single-day student-run ser
vice project in the nation, and this
Saturday will mark its 18th year.
The Big Event was originally
proposed by Joe Nussbaum, an ex
ecutive vice president in The Stu
dent Government Association.
Nussbaum’s original idea was a
one-day community service pro
ject for Texas A&M students.
He envisioned The Big Event as
a way to thank the Bryan-College
Station community for supporting
A&M students throughout the
year. Nussbaum presented his idea
to the Student Senate, and The Big
Event was born.
Since its inception. The Big
Event has grown larger and more
popular thanks in part to strong or
ganization and public involve
ment.
Tiffany Tsumpis, community
interest committee member and a
sophomore biomedical science
major, said merchants in the area
play a large role in The Big Event’s
funding.
“We go to local businesses and
ask for support to help us out
throughout the year,” Tsumpis
said. “With the money, we buy
paint and new supplies and save
money for the next year.”
Tsumpis said there are over 500
projects to be done this year. She
also noted that it is not necessary
to belong to an organization to
help out.
“People come individually and
in groups and we match people
up,” Tsumpis said. “It’s a good
way to meet people. Any Aggie
who wants to come out can help.”
She said The Big Event does not
just benefit the less fortunate.
“We don’t just help the needy,
but also the elderly,” Tsumpis said.
“They [the elderly] love us to
come out and keep them compa
ny.”
Bowie Hogg, student involve
ment committee sub-chair and a
sophomore business management
major, said the committees work
many extra hours each day.
"We go to Margaret
Rudder's house
each year and
clean windows."
— Bowie Hogg
Student involvement
committee sub-chair
“What our committee does is if
jobs aren’t finished, we break up
and work from three until six to
finish jobs,” Hogg said. “At 4 p.m.
our whole committee is gone. We
work the whole year on it [The Big
Event].”
Hogg said nearly 4,600 students
are signed up to participate this
year. The projects taken on range
from painting to laying concrete.
“The majority [of the jobs] are
painting, inside and outside,”
Hogg said. “We do lots of garden
work, we cleaned gutters last year.
We do everything. We go to Mar
garet Rudder’s house each year
and clean windows. We rake
leaves. We’re going to a church
this year and helping them set up
for a garage sale.”
Hogg said The Big Event rarely
says no to a job.
“We’ve never just turned down
a job,” Hogg said. “Every job we
get we try to do. Any job we can
physically do, we do. We get in
teresting job requests.”
Ashley McAlpine, a Big Event
staff assistant and a sophomore in
dustrial engineering major, said
she plays a part in The Big Event’s
job search and match-up process.
“We [staff assistants] come on
at the semester and help out
checking job sites,” McAlpine
said. “We determine how many
jobs there are and how many peo
ple and supplies we need.”
McAlpine said the job request
process is easily accessible and
The Big Event makes every effort
to fulfill the requests.
“The job sites are anywhere on
campus,” McAlpine said. “You fill
out a job request form and as long
as you get it in on time, we’ll get
someone out there.”
McAlpine said she volunteered
last year and loves being a part of
The Big Event.
“Last year we raked leaves and
we dug up rocks out of a yard,”
McAlpine said. “I love it and I re
ally enjoy working with all the
people and working towards
something. I can’t wait to see it all
pay off on Saturday.”
Tsumpis said she finds her
work with The Big Event very re
warding.
“It’s amazing, going out and
helping people,” Tsumpis said.
“It’s the one chance we have to go
out to the Bryan-College Station
area and tell them ‘thank you.’
We’re really proud of it.”
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