Volunteers Sought for the Big Event and Community Service Day

The University of Wyoming is collaborating with the city of Laramie for a day of community service Saturday, Oct. 10.

The combination of UW’s Big Event and the city’s Community Service Day will bring community members together to help beautify and improve Laramie.

“I’m delighted that organizers of our student-led service day and Laramie’s Community Service Day have joined forces this year, and I encourage the entire university community to participate,” UW President Dick McGinity says. “This is an opportunity for those of us at the university to show our appreciation for this great place we call home, and to help make it even more appealing.”

Sponsored by UW’s Service, Leadership and Community Engagement (SLCE) office, this will be the third annual Big Event hosted by UW. UW’s first Big Event was held in the fall of 2013 as the kickoff to Homecoming week. More than 700 students participated at 90 locations throughout the Laramie community.

This year’s Big Event will begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 10 at Simpson Plaza. Volunteers will be at their service sites by 10 a.m. and will work until 1 p.m. The Big Event staff is seeking community members and organizations to submit work requests for the event. Students can help with tasks ranging from yard work to painting. To submit requests, visit www.uwyo.edu/the-big-event.

Meanwhile, Laramie’s Community Service Day will focus on planting trees and shrubs along Snowy Range Road. UW faculty and staff members are encouraged to take part.

Beginning at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 10, a hot breakfast will be available for all participants at the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site, 975 Snowy Range Road. Volunteers are scheduled to begin working at 8:30 a.m., and the project is expected to be completed by noon.

Participants are encouraged to bring gloves, work boots and sunscreen. All volunteers must sign a waiver and then will be assigned to work groups for the morning. Leaders will be available to help teach individuals how to plant. Volunteers need not register before the event.

Organizers aim to plant 19 trees, 34 shrubs and 30 perennials along the north and south side of Snowy Range Road between Interstate 80 and Garfield Street.

Laramie’s Community Service Day has been an annual event for 14 years. Projects have included gateway beautification, large-scale tree plantings along city entryways, sports field improvements and landscaping of recreation areas.

While no registration is necessary for Laramie’s Community Service Day, students interested in helping with the Big Event can register to volunteer as individuals, groups or by organization. For more information, visit www.uwyo.edu/the-big-event, like the Wyoming Union on Facebook, or follow SLCE on Twitter and Instagram @SLCE_UW and use #thebigeventuw.

The Big Event is recognized as one of the nation’s largest student-run service days. It originated at Texas A&M University in 1982 and has expanded to 95 other schools across the nation as well as schools in Spain, Australia, Italy and Germany.

The service day objective is to unify the UW campus and Laramie community by creating an opportunity for students to thank residents of Laramie for supporting the university.