Milwaukee volunteers make weekly bread runs to feed the hungry

Published: 2006-01-05

MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- After delivering bread for local bakeries for 25 years, Michael Czarnecki knew lots of surplus goods went to waste. As a member of the Knights of Columbus, Czarnecki knew many low-income people in the area who could make good use of that surplus. As a result, Czarnecki now makes thrice-weekly bread runs through which he and fellow volunteers deliver hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baked goods annually. Items that would otherwise spoil now go to those in need. Some of the deliveries are made to organizations like the School Sisters of St. Francis and Nativity Jesuit Middle School, which in turn distribute the goods. Thanks to Czarnecki's connections in the baking business, more than 100 food pantries, including those at St. Philip Neri and St. Casimir parishes in Milwaukee, and St. Dominic Parish in Brookfield, are supplied with baked goods. Czarnecki likes to refer to it as "charity helping charity," with the Knights helping other outreach programs help the needy.

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