Students are preparing to step off of the Hill and into the local community for The Big Event this weekend.

The Big Event is a community service project in its ninth year, put on by OrangeSeeds, a first-year student leadership and empowerment program at Syracuse University. The organization plans and organizes the project throughout the year.

This year’s event will be on April 20. It’s the “largest day of community service on campus,” during which student volunteers complete various projects that will help restore and beautify the north side of the city, according to the organization’s website.

“All 28 of us (freshmen in OrangeSeeds) have been working around the clock to put this on,” said Ben Bacolores, a freshman marketing and advertising major. “It is the ultimate test to show what we know and have learned in OrangeSeeds.”

The organization is partnering with 12 other community organizations to host The Big Event, which will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Buses will be color-coded by work site to transport volunteers to their locations, Bacolores said.

OrangeSeeds members were chosen during the summer through an application process that ultimately identified a group of 28 freshmen to organize The Big Event. The group is broken up into three committees — marketing, community involvement and logistics — to set up and execute the event, Bacolores said.

The marketing committee has been raising awareness for The Big Event through social media, chalk messages on the Quad and advertisements around campus, he said.

Registration for The Big Event closed due to a high number of registered volunteers, said Logistics Chair Caitlin Lindsay. The organization’s next event will take place in the spring of 2014, she said.

Lindsay said the hardest part of planning The Big Event is organizing the details with 28 students who are all trying to lead.

“Getting to know everybody in OrangeSeeds is great,” said Lindsay, a freshman public relations major. “However, when you get 28 strong leaders in one room, things can get a little antsy and frustrating.”

Bacolores said he agreed that working with the other members of the group can be challenging.

“The most difficult part of hosting such an event is two things: communication and collaboration,” he said.

Joshua Berman, executive director of OrangeSeeds, said he has seen a lot of growth

in the freshmen members throughout the year. Berman said he is proud of the freshmen, adding that they have shown professionalism and maturity while organizing the event.

“Our hope is that the OrangeSeeds program will teach the Seeds how to be professional campus leaders, how to manage time effectively, how to balance many responsibilities at once, the importance of doing service and giving back,” he said. “We want them to learn how to feel comfortable with their own style of leadership.”

Bacolores, the marketing chair, said he hopes the event will have a positive effect on the city. The group has reached out to community organizations such as Girls Inc., Francis House, Assumption Pantry and Lipe Art Park to help with the event.

Said Bacolores: “I think we are kind of privileged on this Hill, and there are a lot of areas in Syracuse that could use our help.”

Published on April 17, 2013 at 11:32 pm

Contact Kelvin: kbread@syr.edu