COMMUNITY STEPS UP FOR BRENHAM AT BIG EVENT

Josh Blaschke October 12, 2026

Volunteers paint the walkway at Alton Elementary
School.

Hundreds of volunteers gathered across Brenham on Saturday to give back to their community.

The second annual Big Event, coordinated by Brenham ISD and Brenham GameChangers, brought students and community members to school campuses and facilities, as well as other sites, to perform dozens of beautification and improvement projects like painting, landscaping and pressure washing.

According to GameChangers President Dr. Heather Thielemann, roughly 400 students and 110 community members partnered to make this event possible, and in their time served on Saturday, that equals about $108,000 in economic impact.

For the initial Big Event in Brenham last year, volunteers focused on projects at Brenham ISD campuses. This year, the event branched out into the greater Brenham community. Some of the many projects included tending to the garden area at Brenham Elementary School, pressure washing the sidewalk and painting walkways at Alton Elementary School, re-mulching the playgrounds and painting the skate park at Fireman’s Park, constructing beds at Thielemann Construction for Faith Mission’s use, and creating holiday coloring cards at the Boys and Girls Club to go to hospital patients and nursing home residents.

Brenham ISD Superintendent Clay Gillentine said the key to Brenham ISD’s success is student engagement, and part of that is getting kids to learn outside the classroom. He noted that the district started its green chord program, which recognizes students for community service, in conjunction with this event.

The Big Event was supported by several community donors and sponsors, including and Bri Welch and Sahil Bhimani of DR Metals, who provided a $5,000 donation. Welch and Bhimani said they backed the event last year and appreciate how much it brings people together to make Brenham better, with Bhimani adding that he looks forward to seeing how the event grows.