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Mississippi College Gears Up for the Big Event


Mississippi College nursing students play bingo with senior citizens at the 4Cs in Clinton. MC students serve as volunteers there year-round.
Mississippi College nursing students play bingo with senior citizens at the 4Cs in Clinton. MC students serve as volunteers there year-round.

Mississippi College students will take on yard work at locations across metro Jackson, and travel to Panama City to do Hurricane Michael cleanup in Florida.

Up to 250 MC students will tackle those tasks and more as volunteers signing up for the nation’s 2019 Big Event.

Last January, 210 MC student volunteers helped make life better for needy Jackson residents as part of the 2018 Big Event.

Texas A&M University launched the Big Event in 1982 with more than 20,000 Aggie students helping their communities in 2018. The Texas A&M event is set for March 30. Texas A&M students volunteered with an amazing 957,668 service hours the past 36 years. They’ve served more than 2,200 residents since the event began in the Lone Star State.

Mississippi College’s approach cannot match the size of their counterparts in College Station, Texas. But MC Choctaws always go all out. Assignments on January 26 will also take students to the Jackson Zoo and Methodist Children’s Home, says Beth Masters, director of Christian Life and Ministries.

Her office in Nelson Hall partners with the Student Government Association and other groups with a passion for community service. The Mississippi College students will gather that Saturday on the Quad and go to work.

A year ago, MC students pitched in at Mustard Seed in Rankin County by sweeping gym floors and washing vans. They successfully handled assignments at the 4Cs in Clinton and We Will Go Ministries in downtown Jackson.

Originating at Texas A&M, the event has spread to 125 campuses nationwide – from the University of Oklahoma to Florida State University, from Nebraska to the University of Mississippi.

Masters was thrilled to see so many students at Mississippi College’s 2018 event make a difference for needy Mississippians. “At each ministry location, students were able to interact with people from the community, meet physical needs, and enjoy time with each other.”

The 2018 event orchestrated at Mississippi College saw the student participation rate nearly double from the previous year. MC students first joined forces with the national movement more than five years ago. The Big Event is truly a big part of the 2019 calendar at Mississippi College.

For more information, contact Beth Masters at dbmasters@mc.edu or 601-925-7366.