IF YOU GO
What: The Big Event
Where: Meet at Life Sciences Complex
When: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
How much: Free

More than 200 students will plant flowers, clean up trash, build vegetable beds and do yard work on Syracuse’s West Side on Saturday for Workstock 2010, the theme of The Big Event this year.

The Big Event is an annual community service event put on by Orange Seeds, a first-year leadership program. The volunteers will be split into nine groups, each assigned to different locations across the West Side, marking a change from previous yearsÕ groups that performed community service all over Syracuse.

“We thought if it was in one area, we could see the work that we put in really making a difference. It would be something more tangible,” said Shelby Hadden, a member of Orange Seed’s marketing team.

So far, 240 students registered to participate, and registration will be capped at 300 students, said Claire Stumbras, a junior policy studies and public relations major and the executive director of Orange Seeds. Registration technically closed yesterday, but Orange Seeds is still accepting volunteers until they reach 300, she said.

The participating students will meet at the Life Sciences Complex at 10 a.m. Saturday and take Connective Corridor or school buses to Skiddy Park, located near Blodgett Elementary School on the West Side. Once at the park, the groups will walk to their assigned locations, she said.

Students who are not registered and want to participate can show up on Saturday at Life Sciences, but Stumbras said there is no guarantee they will have a volunteer location.

The theme of this year’s Big Event, Workstock 2010, was developed by Orange Seeds’ marketing team, Stumbras said. Orange Seeds is made up of 26 freshmen who spend the year doing leadership activities and planning for The Big Event, she said.

The goal of The Big Event is to engage SU students with the surrounding community, Hadden said. It is important for students to help the community in any way they can, she said. The Big Event also gives students the opportunity to come together with new people to make a difference, she said.

Students can sign up individually or with a group. The group can be an established organization, such as a sorority, or students can sign up with a group of friends, she said.

Stumbras said the event is a good way for students to get involved in something outside the university.

“I think it’s a really easy way to help people get off the Hill and into a community,” she said, “and volunteer with something independent of the university.”

Published on April 21, 2010 at 12:00 pm