By Tony Pennington

Transcript Staff Writer

If University of Oklahoma senior Josh Davis is tired, he is hiding it well.

It has been nearly a year since Davis, 22, began his preparations for the eighth annual The Big Event, a community service effort conducted by OU students. Throughout the long hours, Davis, chair of the activity, has assembled an 80-person event staff, recruited about 4,100 students, faculty and staff volunteers, raised funds, attracted sponsors, approved project sites and secured the necessary supplies.

At last count The Big Event required 546 pairs of work gloves, 87 shovels, 56 soil and 75 leaf rakes, 107 paint brushes, about 100 gallons of paint and 71 flats of flowers.

The tools may be taken care of, but there still is plenty of work left before the Saturday morning kickoff. Wearing a baseball cap and this year’s The Big Event T-shirt Wednesday morning in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom of the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Davis and several of his staff members spoke with new and existing volunteers.

Davis kept his energy levels high with each participant. But when he stepped away from the signup tables, Davis, in his fourth year with The Big Event, was anxious and exhausted.

“It has been many, many, long hours of work,” the health and exercise science major said. “It also was a lot of patience and understanding. This Saturday, it will all be worth it.”

The Big Event began as a student-led initiative at Texas A&M; University in 1982. The idea was to give back to the Bryan-College Station community. The concept has been applied to other universities including OU in 1999. Each year OU students, staff and faculty members provide services to non-profit and community-based organizations in Norman, Oklahoma City and surrounding communities. Projects typically involve painting, repairs, landscaping and cleanups.

While they cannot accommodate every request, Davis said each of the 145 sites was worthy of attention.

“There is a need for us to give back to those groups and organizations that help others,” he said. “It’s really important every now and then to say thank you to the community for putting up with the university.”

That spirit also is present at the OU Health Sciences Center where Kristen Torkelson is the chair. Torkelson, 25, a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in public health, is a veteran of The Big Event. She has been involved since her undergraduate days at the Norman campus.

“I can’t imagine not being involved with The Big Event,” she said. “I feel like it has become a part of me. I have seen what great things it can do for the community, and I want to help positively impact those communities wherever I go.”

This will be the fifth time OUHSC has hosted The Big Event. In previous years, the campus has conducted a health fair, but organizers wanted to shift toward a more hand-on experience.

“We have worked to model our Big Event after Norman’s,” Torkelson said. “Our student volunteers could literally walk to their job site and make a positive, immediate impact on their community.”

According to Torkelson, about 95 students, staff and faculty members will visit 11 sites Saturday within a five-mile radius of OUHSC. Among their projects are painting, landscaping and playing bingo with the elderly. Torkelson said it was important to provide avenues for students to experience the residents and organizations in their area.

“It gives the students, faculty and staff a chance to give something back to their community,” she said. “These job sites are basically in our back yard and it is important to help one another. Some students are so busy with their studies that they might not even be aware of these facilities. It’s time to start building relationships between them and give them a chance to work closely together.”

Norman campus freshman students Amy Uhles, 19, and Nadia Albahadily, 19, agree with both Torkelson and Davis. They see Saturday’s service learning opportunity as a way to reach beyond themselves and the university.

“I think it’s great,” said Uhles, a Norman North High School graduate. “It gets you involved. It’s not only good for you but for the community and others.”

Albahadily is so impressed with the effort, she would like to see it repeated throughout the year.

“It’s a great way for us to show our appreciation to the community,” she said. “We can get a lot of projects done. Imagine if we could do it three or four times a year … one is better than none I guess.”

For the more than 150 combined sites, it’s more than they could have expected eight years ago. Davis doesn’t take that lightly. After all the days and months, he is committed to completing the task and putting others first.

“We will stay until we get the job done,” he said. “It will depend on the site and what needs to be done, but we will do it. Anything they need, we will supply it.”

Tony Pennington

366-3541

tpennington@normantranscript.com