Sweat, dirt, hard labor and smiles. All of these things are important elements of Auburn's BIG Event.
BIG Event is a philanthropy event that started at Texas A&M in 1982 as a way of saying thank you to the community.
Today BIG Event has spread to many universities in the Southeast as well as a few high schools, and it continues to be driven by the desire to help the community.
"It lets the people in the community see there are students out there that care about them," said Logan Powell, executive director of the BIG Event
"I volunteer, because this is my way to say thank you," said Leanne Portera, assistant director of job sites and tools of BIG Event.
This year's BIG Event on Saturday, March 23 will mark the 11th year that the University has participated in the Big Event program according to Powell.
As its name suggests the defining characteristics of BIG Event are its size and scope.
This year Powell said there are more than 70 registered job sites.
"We have a whole lot of different job sites," Portera said.
These job sites include locations that will help schools in Notasulga, The Boys & Girls Club, Humane Society, local churches, homeowners and others.
"People will be doing everything from raking to washing windows," Portera, said. "We just can't use power tools."
Although this year's BIG Event will be one of the biggest in the event's history at Auburn it will actually be a step back in overall size from last year.
"It has had an exponential growth pattern, but has gotten a little bit smaller this year," Portera said. "It will be a bit smaller, because this is the first year without spirit points."
Portera said she was optimistic, however, that BIG Event will continue to grow after this year.
This news has not dampened the spirit of at least one recipient of BIG Event's aide.
"We are simply grateful for any assistance we can get," said Dottie Battle, board member of Village Christian Church.
Battle said that the church has been helped by BIG Event for the last four years, and the enthusiasm and vigor of the volunteers has always stood out.
"They help us to spring clean every year," Battle said.
Battle said this spring cleaning allowed the church's garden and labyrinth to be open to the public much earlier than it would be without the help of BIG Event's volunteers.
"They accomplish in one day what would take us two months on our own," Battle said. "It certainly has been a tremendous help."
This year's BIG Event like previous BIG Events will start with an 8 a.m. kick-off before groups are assigned their job sites.
The event starts at 9 a.m. and lasts until either the job is done or by 1 p.m.
Register for the BIG Event at the University's SGA website.
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