Marissa Gebhard's Journey with Best Buddies

Hard to believe that another school year is upon us! What better way to kick-off the school year, than to feature an individual directly associated with a stellar Best Buddies Indiana college chapter. Marissa Gebhard (formerly Runkle) is a Best Buddies long-timer and has been involved since before the state office opened in 1992. Marissa originally served as the host site coordinator for the Logan Center in South Bend, when the University of Notre Dame Best Buddies chapter opened in 1991. Below is a snapshot of Marissa's journey with Best Buddies over the past 11 years:

How did you become involved with Best Buddies?

My former boss at LOGAN Center started the Notre Dame chapter of Best Buddies around 1991, so it was part of my former job to recruit, supervise and train Notre Dame student volunteers to work with people with developmental disabilities. When I became a Notre Dame employee seven years ago, I loved Best Buddies so much I still wanted to serve as the advisor of Best Buddies.

What is your favorite Best Buddies memory?

I have many, many favorite Best Buddies memories. The one that means the most to me happened about ten years ago in a Notre Dame dorm late at night. We had just finished a big social event in Welsh Family Hall with about 50 buddy pairs. Almost everyone was gone, except the two buddies that I was going to take home. It had been a very long day. I was cleaning up and loading my car. I was really tired and exhausted, and as soon as I was done cleaning up one of the buddies handed me a cup of hot chocolate. I love hot chocolate. Instantly, I had so much energy!

What are you doing today?

Today, I'm writing and editing a script for a video on our four new professional master's degrees in the College of Science at Notre Dame, and I'm rushing to complete a few large banners to welcome freshman and their parents next Saturday, which means Best Buddies will soon be starting, too!

What is ONE word that makes you think of Best Buddies?

Love. Unconditional love is what we have in Best Buddies. We see each other for who we are, not for what we can do or what rank we've achieved in society.