* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.
          [The Big Event 2023]
          [00:00:04]
          IT IS BACK AND AS BIG AS EVER. 
          WELCOME TO THE BIG EVENT. 
          IT'S GRAND PRAIRIE'S SIXTH ANNUAL BIG EVENT, THE MASSIVE ONE DAY CITYWIDE VOLUNTEER INITIATIVE COMING TO THE RESCUE OF RESIDENTS WHO NEED HELP WITH ANY NUMBER OF JOBS AROUND THE HOUSE THAT THEY AREN'T ABLE TO DO ON THEIR OWN. 
          ONCE AGAIN, THIS YEAR, THE BIG EVENT BROUGHT OUT HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS, INCLUDING GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS FROM THE CITY, LOCAL BUSINESSES, CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS, CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS WHO WERE SPREAD OUT AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS FROM NORTH TO SOUTH AND EAST TO WEST, HELPING WITH ANY NUMBER OF CHORES FROM SMALLER ONES LIKE YARD WORK AND GARDENING TO THE BIGGEST SPRING. 
          CLEANING JOBS IMAGINABLE, INCLUDING SOME THAT HAVE BEEN NEEDED FOR YEARS AND REQUIRED THE ASSISTANCE OF PARTNERSHIPS INSIDE THE CITY AND OUT, LIKE AT THE HOMES OF LONGTIME RESIDENTS, MARY PAYNE AND TAMMY ARMOR. 
          I HAD A SHED OUT HERE AND IT WASN'T NEEDING TO BE TORE DOWN, SO THEY CAME OUT AND, UH, REMOVED ALL THE JUNK OUT OF THE SHED AND THEN THEY, TO THE SHED DOWN, AND NOW THEY'RE REMOVING ALL THE JUNK THAT WERE IN THE SHED. 
          A FRIEND OF MINE TOLD ME ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND SO I WAS LIKE, HELLO, . 
          SO I APPLIED FOR IT AND THAT'S WHAT COMPELLED ME TO DO IT, BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE WHAT COMPELLED ME TO DO IT. 
           IN 2018, GRAND PRAIRIE BECAME THE FIRST MUNICIPALITY IN THE NATION TO ADOPT THE BIG EVENT CONCEPT, BROUGHT TO THE CITY BY COUNCIL MEMBER GEORGIA CLEMSON, WHO GOT THE IDEA FROM HER GRANDSON, A STUDENT VOLUNTEER WHILE HE WAS GOING TO SCHOOL AT TEXAS A AND M. 
          THE PLACE WHERE IT ALL STARTED BACK IN 1982, I KNEW WE HAD A HEART FOR SERVICE HERE IN GRAND PRAIRIE, AND I BROUGHT IT BACK TO THE MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER, AND AT THE TIME THEY SAID, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA, A GOOD FIT FOR GRAND PRAIRIE. 
          SO WE GOT STARTED THE FIRST YEAR AND IT WAS A BIG HIT. 
          THIS IS REALLY WHAT COMMUNITY'S ALL ABOUT. 
          THIS IS, THIS IS WHAT GRAND PRAIRIE'S ABOUT, AND WE'RE FINDING INCREASINGLY, WE JUST HAVE A VERY SPECIAL CITY. 
          I THINK OUR CITY CARES AND JOBS LIKE THIS WHERE WE CAN COME TOGETHER AND, AND HELP SOMEBODY, UH, WHO'S STRUGGLING IN ANY WAY, AND WE CAN DO IT TOGETHER AND MAKE NEW FRIENDSHIPS AND ALL THAT. 
          THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT. 
          WELCOME. 
          THIS YEAR'S BIG EVENT IN GRAND PRAIRIE. 
          SENT MORE THAN 1700 VOLUNTEERS TO OVER A HUNDRED DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, OKAY?
* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.