On a chilly spring afternoon, conversations and guitar melodies filled the air as families and students came together to enjoy food trucks, live music and activities. While the night filled with festivities brought a community closer, it also worked to honor hometown heroes: the first responders in the Bryan-College Station area.  

Aggie Lilies, a Texas A&M women’s organization of sisterhood and service, hosted its first philanthropy event, Liliespalooza, on April 18 at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Inspired by the music festival Lollapalooza, the event featured live music, vendors and family-friendly activities aimed at giving back to first responders in the Bryan-College Station area. 

The free, festival-style event brought together students and first responders in a casual setting focused on connection. Lilies Philanthropy First Responder Chair and agribusiness senior Sydney Bednarz said the goal of the event was to strengthen connections between students and first responders while showing appreciation for their service. 

“We want to create an environment where first responders feel like they can come and bring their family,” Bednarz said. “It’s a fun event for college students and first responders to listen to live music, visit food trucks, vendors and [participate in] fun activities, like the obstacle course.”

Live music from a diverse range of regional bands helped set the tone for the afternoon, including performances from College Station-based alternative band Bolton Avenue and Waco-based alternative country group Broken Strings. The Austin Jones Band, which includes the father of a Lilies’ member, also performed. Lilies Songfest Chair and psychology junior Aliana Marcano said the event created an energetic atmosphere for attendees.  

“It’s been very high energy with the live music; I’m having a great time,” Marcano said. “There’s a bunch of families with their dogs here. They are all super cute and running around, it looks like they are having a lot of fun.”

Over the past year, Aggie Lilies has worked with both the Bryan and College Station Police Departments, participating in community-focused events alongside them, including self-defense classes and Blue Santa, a holiday donation drive for families in need. Bednarz said the profits from the silent auction during the event and donations will go toward the Brazos County First Responder Association, which includes many local police officers and department leaders. 

“We want to give back to them because they have really helped branch our name within the community,” Bednarz said. “We do a bunch with them and they have been really excited, given what we’re standing for.” 

Focusing philanthropy efforts on first responders is what Lilies’ Philanthropy Chair and philosophy junior Kinsey Davis said sets the organization apart from others at A&M. 

“We are the only student-run organization at A&M that honors first responders as our philanthropy,” Davis said. “We’re trying to bridge the gap between college students and first responders, so we’re hoping that this event shows them that people do and want to honor them.”

For some members, like Bednarz, that mission is personal. Bednarz said that the organization’s philanthropy was the main reason she applied for Lilies, adding that her role as first responder chair “felt like a calling” and that getting to know local first responders has been personally rewarding.  

“Growing up, my uncle’s best friend was a cop out of San Antonio,” Bednarz said. “I always looked up to him as a role model. We would always hang out with him and he would tell us stories… I am very thankful for all first responders and what they do for us every day.”

For others like Davis, her perspective developed through firsthand experience with first responders. She said that her involvement in Lilies showed her aspects of their work she had not previously been exposed to as a college student.

“Coming into Lilies, it has been cool to see what first responders do and, more interestingly, how they work and what they do on a day-to-day basis,” Davis said. “It’s cool to see behind the scenes, I feel like that makes you appreciate [them] a bit more.”

Through these partnerships, Lilies has participated in station tours where members visit local departments and take part in hands-on activities, such as trying on gear, using a fire hose and climbing ropes with harnesses. Members also tour fire trucks and ambulances while learning how different stations operate in real time. 

Lilies Public Relations Chair and bioenvironmental sciences senior Ellie Wicks said seeing how passionate first responders are about their work is inspiring, recalling a tour that was cut short by an emergency call.

“Their work never stops,” Wicks said. “We were literally trying on their gear, and they got an emergency call and were like ‘We need that gear, we gotta run’ and were out of there quick, probably within 30 seconds.”

Wicks said the interactions extend far beyond station tours and influence how members connect with Lilies’ philanthropy, shaping how they give back to first responders and their families through events like Liliespalooza. She added that the relationships built through these experiences continue to grow at events.

“We’re not just volunteering for them,” Wicks said. “We interact with each other and build relationships; it’s really rewarding.”

Liliespalooza marked the start of what Davis hopes will become a lasting tradition, building on the relationships members have formed with first responders and creating new ways to give back to the community for years to come. 

“We want to continue showing up for them the same way they show up for our community,” Davis said. “Serving the people who serve us.”