Serving as a Married Couple: Michael & Jennifer White
By Sarah Baquet
I met Michael White back in November 2023, when he offered to help retrieve and transport several used furniture pieces for our clients moving from homelessness to housing. He was so willing to use his truck, to drive to houses, and to pick up chests of drawers and chairs. I rode along with him - team lifting and navigating clumsy pieces of furniture from homes into the bed of his truck.
Soon after that moving experience, I invited Michael to join us in service at the Food for Families Food Drive. He jumped up to help and chose to serve on the 5:30 am shift recognizing that many people would not choose to serve at such an early time.
After the Food for Families Food Drive, Michael was still hungry to serve. He signed up to serve at FoodNet Food Bank for the Donated Food Sorting and Inventory shift; however, this time he didn’t come alone - he brought his wife Jennifer! And they began coming as a couple every week to help sort and inventory. They would even occasionally bring a canned good item to donate at the time of their service and joke that it was their “entrance fee,” to volunteer at FoodNet.
With experience, they began suggesting little adjustments to improve our inventory process - a better setup for the sorting tables or arranging the food category labels in alphabetical order for ease in locating the proper boxes. Very quickly, Michael and Jennifer began leading other volunteers in the process of Donated Food Sorting and Inventory at FoodNet!
During Lent this year, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milton joined Catholic Charities of Acadiana’s 1-1-1 Campaign – collecting tuna in support of FoodNet Food Bank. Parishioners began collecting in such a quantity that it was clear the collection baskets would need to be emptied several times during the campaign. Michael and Jennifer, being parishioners themselves, jumped up again to help transport the collected items to FoodNet each time the baskets needed emptying. In total 2971 cans of tuna made their way to FoodNet Food Bank in the back of Michael and Jennifers’ pick-up truck!
Most recently, Michael and Jennifer became interested in serving as a part of the Donated Food Transport Volunteer Team where they monitor several FoodNet collection baskets in grocery stores and transport the collected items to FoodNet each time the collection baskets are full.
It is such a joy to see the beautiful progression from curiosity about volunteering to full-fledged dedication in this beautiful couple! I love their readiness and flexibility in service, their courage to dive into new areas, and their unity as a married couple through volunteering together each week.
Thank you, Michael and Jennifer!
Be like Michael and Jennifer! Schedule your service through St. Joseph Diner or one of our volunteer centric programs by clicking here.
Questions? Reach out to our Volunteer Experience Coordinator, Sarah Baquet, at sarahb@catholiccharitiesacadiana.org or (337) 235-4972 x1222