This upcoming Saturday, March 23, is the Fourth Annual Big Event. And by “Big,” I do mean BIG!
The Big Event is an annual all-day community service event where hundreds of students contribute to their community by assisting Farmville and surrounding communities with activities like yard work, construction work, painting and more.
Students collect behind Lankford Student Union by 9 a.m. and work until 12:30 p.m. before enjoying a picnic catered by Aramark back behind the Lankford Student Union. The Big Event website advises students to wear comfortable clothing, bring a water bottle, wear closed-toed shoes and bring their student ID to eat at the picnic afterwards.
According to the Big Event website, it is also advised to not wear clothing that may promote a specific organization. “Please wear Longwood University apparel to promote Longwood as a whole in the community,” it states.
The Student Government Association (SGA) sponsors the Big Event. As stated on the Big Event website, “All planning, fundraising, promotion and organization of the Big Event is done by a group of Longwood students on the Big Event executive board.”
The Big Event is considered to be the largest campus-wide community service project of Longwood University.
That means it’s one of the most important days of the year to show that Farmville is our home.
In fact, just last year there were 650 student volunteers helping with a total of 70 service projects, as reported on the Big Event website. Only a couple years earlier in 2009, there were 250 students serving 12 jobs. Who knows what those numbers will be like in a few years’ time from now?
Too often, I hear students say something like, “I go to Longwood, but I live in ...”
It’s as though the nine or so months out of the year they are at Longwood are spent in solitary confinement. For some students this may not be true, but for those students who were raised elsewhere and go to a school that is called home and don’t consider the community that houses the school to also be home — well, what is home then?
You can’t cross the street to have a drink and say there is nothing else beyond that. Too many students don’t even know what opportunities are on Main Street beyond Green Front and Pairet’s.
If you still haven’t heard, the Farmville Sweet Shop opened up only last month, featuring various chocolates, cakes and candies. The Bakery, only a few doors away from the Farmville Sweet Shop, offers various cold and grilled sandwiches as well as shelves filled with different wines and juices.
And the J Fergeson Gallery across the street is a great and close by art gallery that features contemporary artwork from local and national artists. All of these are down Main Street, and there are more maybe you haven’t stepped into just yet.
Currently, Downtown Farmville is making efforts to see what they can do to excite more students to cross the street beyond the campus. With multiple visioning forums held already, the people of Farmville are asking, “How can we do more for you?”
In an article printed by The Rotunda on Feb. 27, on one visioning session hosted on Feb. 25, Helen Person, executive director of Downtown Farmville, was quoted as saying, “Part of what we are trying to do is to be able hear across the whole spectrum of people in Farmville. What do they see in Farmville? Who are we? And who are we trying to be? Where are we going?”
Even so, too many students will confine themselves to the 23909 zip code and say, “There’s nothing to do.”
There is so much to do. You just need to look for it, even just a little bit.
This Saturday, hundreds of students will be crossing into the streets and communities of Farmville to help our neighbors who call this place their home. Maybe — while able to see the beauty of the architecture, the flora and the people – even you will be able to find a moment to say maybe these nine months in Farmville are more than a school away from home, but a home away from home.
*** This editorial is an opinion stated by the writer and does not represent the views of The Rotunda or Longwood University.
