Four Questions with...Marissa Moran

How did you get connected with Beautiful Day?
I had been at Westgate about 6 months or so in 2009, and after completing Explore/Discovery I was given the opportunity to express a specific area of interest I'd like to volunteer in. I checked "compassion ministry" and then followed up with an email. Shortly after that I found myself meeting with Jon Talbert and Joanne Glen about coming on board as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Community at Large projects! Two-and-a-half years later, I'm still here.

What does your role entail?
I make sure Westgate peeps get hooked up with volunteering for the projects they want and fit their skill set and that our Project Manager's have enough volunteers to fulfill their project's needs! This entails lots and lots of communication and emailing, as well as spreadsheet/data reviewing!

Tell us what it's like being a part of the Core Team.
It feels like a family! We genuinely enjoy our weekly gatherings, to not only discuss the ups and downs of the week, and whats going on in our lives, but to be encouraging and uplifting and to share a common purpose. It's pretty awesome to be part of a weekly like-minded group of people, who just want to serve Jesus by serving others. We all have our individual strengths we bring to the table and seeing how we all work together -- and how we mesh and just genuinely enjoy each other's company -- is pretty cool.

Going forward, what you like to see happen in our community as a result of Beautiful Day?
More and more people coming to know Christ because of the love and compassion that they experienced and/or witnessed. I would love to see compassion and service become even more infectious in our city, with people helping people and making real long-term connections with those they see in need.

Marissa Moran is the Volunteer Coordinator for Beautiful Day. Originally from North Little Rock, Arkansas, she is a fan of '80s movies like The Goonies and Sixteen Candles. She's also jealous Wendy Laugesen has New Kids on the Block tickets.