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#CEAPCommunity Spotlight: Meet Mike Witzany!

During the month of February, CEAP is celebrating our love for YOU, our community! We’ll be sharing a story each week from a volunteer and/or donor about their experience at CEAP and the “why” behind their commitment to our community! This week’s spotlight is Mike Witzany.

 

Two years ago, Mike was attending a local church service and noticed a request for volunteers at CEAP in the church bulletin. Mike felt that this call to action was an obligation that God had placed on his heart, and he reached out to CEAP. Since then, Mike has been a consistent and reliable volunteer every Wednesday in CEAP’s Food Market!

As a part of the Wednesday crew, Mike enjoys seeing and volunteering alongside several of the same folks each week. This consistency of volunteers has helped to build a community and a rapport amongst the group—it also has allowed them to each specialize in their own favorite task in the food market! For Mike, that’s sorting food rescue.

“It’s amazing what comes into CEAP through food rescue,” says Mike. Through a partnership with local grocery stores, CEAP is able to pick up and “rescue” food from stores that they otherwise would throw away. This includes produce, meat and dairy, and shelf-stable products that may be thrown out because they have imperfections, are nearing their sell-by date, or for various other reasons. In 2019 alone, CEAP rescued 1.24 million pounds of food from grocery store partners!

Between food rescue, donated food, and food obtained from food banks, CEAP prides itself on sharing the abundance with our neighbors. Mike shares this perspective, stating, “I want people to take as much food as they can use!” He encourages participants to take what they want and will use, as there is plentiful food in the market.

After two years of volunteering at CEAP’s Food Market, Mike continues to feel called to action by his faith. “I’ve been blessed in my life to always have enough food. Volunteering at CEAP is a way that I can give back and pass that blessing on.”

 

Do you feel called to volunteer? We’d love to have you, whether it’s in the Food Market or elsewhere in our organization! Please visit www.ceap.org/volunteer and fill out the interest form to get started.