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Laura’s Big Give is a fraction of Oprah’s.

Actually, the money for these charitable projects comes from the coins lining the pockets of 24 students taking Guilford College instructor Laura Parrish’s intense weeklong class on justice and policy studies this summer.

Parrish set up a coin counter in her classroom earlier this week and, without divulging details, asked students over the next few days to contribute whatever they had.

On Wednesday, and with little advanced notice, she and teaching assistant Michael Bunch divvied up what was collected. Using two passenger vans provided by the school, class participants went out into the community to see what they could do with the cash and their time in about six hours.

“I tell them at the beginning, 'I don’t want y’all to just walk away with another four credits,’ ” said Parrish. “Not every class can be taught this way, but this one can.

“I want them to be able to be it, feel it, touch it, do it — the bigger picture of God’s love and giving back to others, whether people are deserving or not,” she said. “To 'let your guard down’ and don’t judge.”

The set-up for this class isn’t the usual summer offering at most colleges. It’s five days of classes and community service, with additional weeks of course work before and after. The condensed course, usually taken during a semester, also includes weeks of required reading and papers analyzing and applying justice and leadership theories.

“It’s equally exhausting — it’s just as much hard work,” said Jessica Vockroth, a senior psychology major.

With this “Big Give,” the $100 given to each of the groups ended up multiplying like the five fish and two loaves of bread; sympathetic businesses gave huge discounts on everything students bought Wednesday, including the bottled water and the 50 Bojangles biscuit sandwiches that they gave away to people waiting at the social services building on Maple Drive.

Students received donated restaurant gift cards that they later passed out in the waiting room at one of the area’s hospitals, and purchased dollar gifts they handed out to children living with their moms at a local halfway house.

At one nonprofit, students provided the equivalent of 13 hours of needed labor in just about 45 minutes.

And while passing out bottled water downtown on one of the hottest days of the year, one of the students handed a hotdog vendor a wad of cash to buy hot dogs for several dozen people at the park.

“It’s been amazing how people have just stepped up,” said Tommy Long, a senior business major in the class. “It’s actually been really humbling.”

Consider their Friday spaghetti supper, which was set up between the downtown library and the YWCA, the class proficiency test.

“In all, these things were certainly worth more than $1,500,” Parrish said.

Through personal donations and calling on local businesses, class members managed in 48 hours to come up with enough food for a complete spaghetti dinner — with garlic bread, salad and a dessert — for more than 100 homeless people — or whoever happened by wanting a meal.

Students worked with an impressed Debbie Fisher, who coordinates the Day Watch advocacy program, to provide not only food but hygiene items for the homeless. Initially, the students wanted to make gift bags from items on the shelves at the Salvation Army.

“They’re so short on supplies that we actually took up a collection for items for the hygiene bags,” Long said. “We’ve all kind of taxed out all our favors and friendships with this.”

Those getting a good meal on Friday didn’t know about the academic angle to the work. And the students, they get something out of it, too — besides points towards a final grade.

“It taught me that a little bit of effort and a little bit of sweat can help so many people,” said freshman Melissa Bunn, who has been motivated to look for other ways to volunteer in the community.

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com