(March 7, 2012)

BIG Event 5 is coming to the Highlands

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary students, faculty, staff, and alumni will come together to act as neighbors helping neighbors for the BIG Event 5 on Saturday, March 24. The BIG Event is a student-led day of service during which members of the Centenary community work to beautify the surrounding neighborhoods and give back to Shreveport.

"The Big Event is important to me and other students because it gives us an opportunity to give back to the community that has fostered Centenary's development and become our home," said junior Payton Bannon, who is media coordinator for the BIG Event. "It is a great way for us to unite as a campus for the single purpose of helping out our neighbors."

Volunteers have the opportunity to choose from various helpful activities, including exterior home improvement, basic landscaping, and inside services. Members of the Centenary and Shreveport-Bossier community who are interested in volunteering can sign up as an individual or team. The sign-up process is available online.

Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. with free breakfast and a t-shirt. After the service projects are complete, volunteers will be treated to lunch.

Centenary's Highland neighbors are invited to join the free carnival on Jones Rice Field afterward. The carnival will feature entertainment, food, and fun: inflatables, a Velcro wall, a dunking booth, and cotton candy and popcorn machines.

The BIG Event has had over 200 volunteers participate every year since its inaugural run in 2008. The BIG Event is considered the largest, one-day, student-run service project in the nation.

For more information contact email or 318.869.5702.