After a three-year COVID-19 interruption, The Big Event, a student-led project that works all year to bring students, faculty, staff, and alumni together for one full day of community service returned on Sunday, April 23rd.
SUNY Cortland students, faculty, and staff spent their day cleaning and helping the community. These student groups include athletic teams such as men’s volleyball, women’s rugby, men’s club hockey, and many more. Greek organizations like Delta Phi Epsilon and Sigma Delta Tau were there as well to help the community.
The day started at 9 a.m. as student volunteers fill up the Park Center Alumni Ice Arena where students received their t-shirts, Jobsite assignments, and a complimentary breakfast.
SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum came in to speak and shared stories about the previous Big Event expressing his gratitude for all the students who stepped up to clean the community that we call our second home. At 10:15 a.m. students were given their job site assignments which ranged from cleaning up trash on the sides of Cortland’s streets to going to a resident’s home and cleaning up their yards.
Emily Sommers, a junior and SGA’s new Vice President said she had a great time at today’s event.
My favorite thing about today was being able to work along side other students on campus that i haven’t talked to before. it was so fun being able to work at the job site and leave the job with new friends!”
Sommer’s said planning for this event was a very large task that took an entire year to plan for.
We were very nervous that students would not attend because it’s been the first time in three years that this event has been able to happen. As a whole, SGA worked together to reach out to the community in all different ways including phone calls, emails, and going into the businesses around Cortland.
An event wouldn’t be complete if there wasn’t an obstacle faced the morning off, but as the SGA worked hard as a team they were able to split up and sort out work sites for organizations that showed up the morning of and delegate work to other organizations that had many members.
Do you have any advice for future and current students who are curious about The Big Event?
I would tell future and current students to sign up for next year’s Big Event! It’s not only a great opportunity to give back to the community but to talk to other students you might not have before the event. It can be intimidating to sign up for the event without your friends or with an organization but the students at Cortland truly care for one another and make sure no one feels alone. The group I was supervising today was full of students I never had met before and we were laughing and talking the entire time.
250+ Student volunteers, 45+ Job Sites, and 25+ streets cleaned up across the Cortland Community!
For student volunteers who weren’t able to come, there were students and even some faculty who didn’t sign up and volunteered straight away. This shows how many members care about the Cortland community to create bonds and better the neighborhoods.
This is a big day of service for the community, and to say, thank you to the Cortland community