Students gather for service. (Nat Nguyen/FAMUAN)
On Feb. 21, college students from universities across Tallahassee traded sleeping in for service.
The sound of a live band welcomed students as they arrived at Langford Green and received their official “The Big Event Tallahassee” service shirts, marking the start of a day focused on giving back.
The Big Event Tallahassee is one of the largest student-run service events in the city, bringing together students from Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee State College. Through projects like yard work, gardening and neighborhood cleanups, students spend the day helping residents, nonprofits and organizations as a way of saying “thank you” to the community they call home during college.
Planning an event of this size takes months of preparation. Valentina Marin, logistics chair for The Big Event and a senior management information systems major at Florida State University, helped organize volunteer assignments and service sites. Marin said the hardest part of her role was managing the large number of students involved.
“This event got like 1,000 volunteers, so there were a lot of names to manage and organize and send to different service sites,” Marin said.
For many students, the day meant more than just earning service hours. Lauren Batache, a second-year criminology major at Florida State University, volunteered through her organization, Service Scholars, after taking part in the event in the past.
She helped with gardening and yard work at a residential home and said her favorite part was “getting to talk to the homeowner and see why the work we did mattered to her.”
Florida A&M University sophomore Camron Curry, an environmental studies major, also volunteered while representing Progressive Black Men Incorporated.
“My favorite part about today was going to the Joseph House, which is a place for incarcerated people that have to transition to regular civilian life,” Curry said. “I met a lot of great people that are trying to correct their lives, so it was an experience.”
Organizers say the event shows how small efforts can make a big difference when students work together. Marin said the impact comes from everyone contributing in their own way.
“If everyone just puts a little bit of effort, something great happens,” she said.
By the end of the day, students from different campuses worked side by side across Tallahassee, showing how community service can bring people together and leave a lasting impact beyond the classroom.