photo by: Contributed

Leaders of the University of Kansas student organization Big Event at KU that promotes community service earned an award at a national conference. From left to right: Keri Barnes, Addison Murdock and Ali Lopez.

A University of Kansas student organization focused on promoting a day of service that helps the Lawrence community won one of the first ever awards handed out by the national organization.

The Big Event at KU was awarded the “Big Event of the Year” during the 2026 One Big Thanks Conference at the University of Florida, according to a KU press release Thursday. The KU student group earned one of the five total awards handed out by the national organization, according to Mikayla Leader, a programs coordinator with KU Memorial Unions.

The student organization was founded in 2011, and for one day a year each school year, its leaders work to connect students to the Lawrence community by completing various projects in their neighborhoods. The aim of the event is to allow students a chance to thank the rest of the community that “shares (the) town with college students,” according to the release.

Leader said that Big Event at KU was one of 14 organizations that traveled to the national conference, which took place from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. Across the country, there are 116 schools that participate in the Big Event, with the program originating at Texas A&M University.

According to the release, the Big Event at KU doubled its volunteer numbers between the fall of 2024 and fall of 2025 through recruitment events on the Lawrence campus, community partnerships and in-kind donations.

Jack Kredo, executive director of KU Memorial Unions, said in the release the student organization “provide(s) an opportunity for our students, faculty and staff to connect” to serve the Lawrence community. He said he was proud of the student group’s efforts, saying “The Big Event is truly making our community better every day.”

The next Big Event day of service will be April 18. Big Event is still looking for places across the community — like agencies, businesses or parks — where it can send volunteers for service. If you are interested in having a place be a designated job site, registration for that process opens in late February. You can learn more about the organization, including a link to register a job site, at thebigevent.ku.edu/volunteer.