Despite threat of rain and snow, The Big Event perseveres

As the day of The Big Event approached, the weather forecast was unpredictable at best.
With rain and snow in the forecast Saturday morning, The Big Event team had to make some last minute adjustments moving the sign-up tables into the lobby of the Chicoine Center, instead of the usual outdoor location.
While almost 500 volunteers signed up, 410 students checked in Saturday morning for The Big Event, even with the rain and snow.
“I think that all things considered with the weather [The Big Event] went really well. I think The Big Event team did a really good job putting together a plan B in terms of registration, handling the last minute canceled job sites, scrambling to put people places,” said Shaunda French-Collins, communications professor and faculty adviser for The Big Event.
For the past six years, there have been several job sites that have participated regularly. Some of these include the Museum of the Fur Trade, Wilson Park, Chadron State Park and Chadron Friends of Pets. Each year, the Social Work Club volunteers at Crestview Care Center. This year, they had an ice cream social with the residents.
The Big Event may be just a few hours for the volunteers, but it is a year-round commitment for the student staff members. Planning begins in the fall semester. Volunteer staff members apply and are chosen, then the team begins to map out goals and plans for the upcoming April date.
As they plan the upcoming event, the staff looks at ways to improve and how to maintain volunteers. They also start planning promotional events for The Big Event, such as the Big White Out and the Tower of Power.
While this year’s Big Event may be over, there is still work to be done as French-Collins and staff begin to evaluate the event’s success.
“Every year we continue to post-event evaluate and continually work on communication between job site leaders, staff members, and volunteers,” French-Collins said. “We collect brief surveys from not only job site leaders, but from job sites themselves and we then put all of that together and we evaluate it. Then next fall we’ll start implementing those constructive criticisms and changes where we see need fit.”