Notre Dame students have always been involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in St. Joseph County since its informal founding by Notre Dame Professor James Daschbach in 1968.
The Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Joseph County incorporated, attained not-for-profit status and received provisional membership with the Big Brothers of America in 1969. The Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Joseph County, Inc. has been located in several different offices over the years, but currently is located at 624 North Notre Dame Avenue in South Bend, Indiana, right down the road from Notre Dame's campus. Their current staff includes an Executive Director, two full-time case managers, and an office manager. The agency is governed by a 25-30 member Board of Directors, and is funded by United Way allotments and annual fund raising events.
One of the most unique developments of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Joseph County is the extensive and successful use of college volunteers, structured since 1978. From the earliest attempts at establishing a Big Brother program, Notre Dame students always approached the office in large numbers requesting to be matched with Little Brothers. As the statistics began to reflect, Notre Dame Big Brothers consistently comprised nearly 50% of the matched Big Brothers. Two students were assigned the project of formalizing an adjunct student group. Professor James Daschbach as faculty advisor, assisted the students in writing a Constitution and By-Laws for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Notre Dame/St. Mary's College.
As a campus group, the students organize activities, raise funds for the activities, select officers, and assist staff in on-campus recruiting. In the past, the President of the group has also served as a full member on the Board of Directors for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Joseph County. In the past, supplemental achievements of the Notre Dame/St. Mary's Big Brothers Big Sisters group included the presentation of their campus structure in professional workshops at both the Regional and National conference of Big Brothers Big Sisters, organizing a Big Brothers basketball team which played community teams, and the painting rennovation of the St. Joseph County office in November 1982.