Mini Big Event connects college to community

With no shortage of space, it’s easy for a building as big as the Chadron United Methodist Church to demand plenty of upkeep, and staying current on the chore list is easier said than done. 

“These are the kinds of things that you think ‘we need to get to them,’ but they’re not high on the list of priorities,” Pastor Bonnie McCord said. “So when the Big Event calls and says ‘we have some bodies, can you put them to work?,’ we immediately start thinking about what we need to have done.”

Rescheduled from its original date because of weather concerns, the second ever Mini Big Event, Tuesday (during what might end up as the nicest weather all week) paired volunteers with tasks at 10 job sites, nearly twice as many as it had last year. 

“Today’s job sites went well and we were able to accomplish what the Mini Big Event is all about,” Kelsey Brummels, Big Event graduate assistant said. “Even with recent weather issues we were still able to complete what the majority of sites wanted completed.”

Staff were able to take advantage of their Big Event’s smaller fall counterpart and volunteer themselves, something they’re not always able to do in the spring. They were joined by  Strive and CSC’s event planning and leadership class. 

“It was definitely fun and interesting to see it expand into a more diverse volunteer group,” Brummels said.

Job site owner Maxine Warren, a Big Event regular, said particularly when you live alone, there’s not enough thanks to give to the Big Event staff. 

“I’m just really really satisfied,” Warren said. “I think it’s wonderful that they do this. I enjoy seeing the college do it.”