Rainy weather did not prevent a significant group of Longwood University students from getting at the heart of citizen leadership Saturday by serving their community as part of The Big Event.

Jennifer Cassidy was director of Longwood University’s The Big Event 2018, and she said 210 students participated across 53 job sites, all but a few of which were located in the Farmville area.

To view a gallery of photos from The Big Event, click here.

Cassidy noted that she and her fellow organizers thought the event went quite well.

“It was very smooth,” she said. “A lot of students were able to come despite the weather, and a lot of job sites were able to be completed even though there was rain and the ground was not the best. It’s (usually) a lot of spring work that’s done — weeding, raking — and despite the weather, a lot of it was able to get done anyway, which is awesome.”

She dispatched student work crews around 10 a.m. Some were done early, but others filled up the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. time frame allotted for The Big Event. Cassidy said the last crew to report being finished checked in around 1:20 p.m.

“We love that they went the whole time and were able to get as much done as possible,” she said.

Many crews did not have far to travel before getting to work. One such crew was a group of six young ladies who helped Charlotte Green and Terry Avent tend to the landscaping around Johns Memorial Episcopal Church on High Street. They dug up weeds and hauled and spread mulch around plants and trees.

Just down the street, another crew had some indoor painting opportunities at Farmville United Methodist Church. A group of freshmen ladies were hard at work with senior Rachel Ciehoski.

“I’ve been here four years,” Ciehoski said, “and I only have a few more months left in Farmville, so it’s good to give back to the community.”

She has participated in The Big Event all four years of her undergraduate career, noting that her sorority sisters helped motivate her to be involved consistently.

Highlighting what she feels is the real benefit of the event, she said, “I think it’s cool to meet different people and also give back to the community.”

The freshmen spoke to what motivated them to come out and participate.

“We’re seeing what all the hype’s all about,” Nora Saxman said.

Sarah Myroup added, “It’s interesting because this is the community I’m going to be in for the next four years, so it’s really a privilege to be able to get to know more of it and give back to it.”

Meanwhile, more than six miles away from Longwood off of Brown Branch Road, another Lancer crew was outdoors busily helping out Rico and Tracy Perez at The Bunkhouse LLC.

“We’re a western ranch and trail training facility for horses,” Tracy Perez said. “We get horses from North Carolina, up to Maryland, New York. People want their horses to be ranch horses, to be able to work cattle, open gates, be more of a functional horse, and they send them to us. And the students are actually getting four stalls ready for training horses to come in tomorrow, so it’s perfect timing.”

As indicated by a sign at the ranch thanking the students, Tracy Perez and her husband were quite grateful for the help

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “I used to work at Longwood, so I can especially appreciate them being here, but there’s so much work at a farm, and my husband and I are not in our 30s anymore, so this help is very meaningful.”

Senior Walter Coleman was among a group of young men providing some of that help by transporting wheelbarrows full of sand from a sand pile to an enclosed area for horses.

This was his third straight year participating in The Big Event.

“It’s really important to give back to the community because they’re an integral part of our lives,” he said.

Sophomore George DeBoer was also helping at The Bunkhouse and noted that his fraternity and his fraternity brothers helped open the door to his own involvement.

“I feel like giving back to the community, especially for students, we don’t always have the chance to do that, or as much as some of us would like, so this is a great opportunity …” he said.

Not far from Longwood at the Andy Taylor Center for Early Childhood Development on Fourth Street, a group of six young ladies busied themselves with some indoor duties.

Junior Sarah Piszczor and sophomore Anna Lucas dunked toys in bleach to kill any bacteria and germs that might be on them.

This was their second year participating in The Big Event.

As for what brought her back, Piszczor said, “Honestly it was kind of fun. Last year I met some people that I didn’t even know they went to our school. … It’s nice to help out.”

Lucas said, “It’s a fun experience. We’re always doing fun stuff in our lives, and it’s good to give back to others.”

Cassidy gave some insight into how the job sites were selected for The Big Event.

“We have a list that we use every year, so we’ll call back the list that we already have to see if they’d like to participate again,” she said. “And sometimes the numbers that are already on our job site list, they say that they don’t have anything for us this year, but a lot of people are able to refer us to others, and they’ll say like, ‘Oh, I think that my aunt needs help.’ So we’ll get their information, and we’ll give them a call and ask if they need The Big Event this year. So, it’s kind of like a reference is usually how we accumulate more job sites, and we love doing that because then we’re able to help more people that need our help in the community and give back to them.”