January 2024
The Biggest Little Community Challenge 2024 will run Thursday, January 11th - Thursday, January 25th.
Here’s how it works:
- Choose a cause that is close to your heart.
- Volunteer and log your hours online during the 15-day challenge period.
- Make a gift to Williams. Any size.
- Multiply your gift (up to the first $100) by your number of volunteer hours, thanks to our generous challenge donors. The more you volunteer, the greater your gift to Williams!
- Interested in organizing a group community service activity? Click here to share the details with us. Williams Alumni Engagement will help create an announcement and RSVP form to invite other Ephs to join you.
Regional Service Events - RSVP Now!
- January 15, various times available | Austin, TX - Regional Association of Austin
- January 15 @ 10AM | Williamstown, MA | Berkshire Regional Association
- January 18 @ 4PM | Peabody, MA - Boston Regional Association
- January 20 @ 7:30AM | Compton, CA - Los Angeles Regional Association
- January 20 @ 9AM | Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles Regional Association
- January 20 @ 2PM | Columbus, OH - Regional Association of Central Ohio (Columbus)
- January 21 @ 9AM | Washington, DC - DC Regional Association
For more information about Regional Service Events, contact Rob Swann.
January 2023
We are so grateful to be part of this Biggest Little Community!
Together, 303 Williams alumni provided 4,234 hours of service to 546 community organizations, charities, and neighbors-in-need over the course of only two weeks.
Alumni were generous in sharing stories ranging from helping animals with behavioral challenges at a shelter, supporting a no-kill goat farm, and assisting with wildlife rehabilitation; to coaching youth hockey, supporting after school child care, and providing resources in support of children suffering from abuse; to supporting access to medical care for underserved groups, expanding health care to areas with limited resources, and digitizing patient records; and everything imaginable in between. The volunteer stories documented as part of the Biggest Little Community are just the tip of the iceberg of all the ways in which Williams alumni are deeply involved in and contribute to the communities of which we are a part.
During the same window, thanks to Williams alumni and our generous challenge donors, we raised $533,046 to support an incredibly important part of the community we all share—current Williams students.
These Alumni Fund gifts will make it possible for students to finish the year strong, and we’re so grateful to you and to our challenge donors Joyce Noonan Andersen '88 and James Andersen, Richard Georgi ’87 and Sanae Ishikawa, Mitchell Green ’03 and Lisa Green, Gay Mayer ’64, David Sorkin ’81 P’18 ’23, Peter Wege ’71 P'97 '90 GP'24 and Kathy Wege P'97 '90 GP'24, and anonymous members of the Williams Community for helping make this, and more, possible for today’s students.
The Biggest Little Community Challenge 2023 ran from Wednesday, January 11th, 2023 - Wednesday, January 25th.
History of Community Service Initiatives at Williams
As two of the head agents for the class of 2016, Nick Brownrigg and Jace Forbes-Cockell had a brainstorm one night. They realized their classmates, grateful for what Williams had given them but short on financial resources, were interested in finding a way to support the college with their time.
Jace and Nick knew their friends volunteered for a variety of causes and organizations that made a difference in their communities. They approached the Alumni Fund about finding a way to honor that spirit and help that generosity go further while supporting Williams.
From that eureka moment, Teach It Forward: Impact was born. This special service-focused campaign multiplied alumni gifts to Williams by their volunteer hours over a two-week period in January of 2017. The challenge continued in 2018 and 2019 with additional matching funds. The challenge was paused with the Covid-19 pandemic, but came back in 2021 with a new name and during a new time of year: the Biggest Little Community.
Please Note:
- The challenge will run Thursday, January 11, 2024 through Thursday, January 25, 2024. Service performed for Williams during this time should be included.
- Gifts made anytime between July 1, 2023 and January 25, 2024 will be eligible for matching. Volunteer hours must be performed and logged during the challenge period. The first $100 of any gift is eligible to be matched.
- The matching gift does not count toward your class’s total in the reunion trophy competition.