Catherine Mrozinski has always had a passion for agriculture, but she wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to use that passion for. Almost a decade ago, she unexpectedly started on her path to becoming the founder of Operation Feed LaPorte County.
After graduating from Purdue University in West Lafayette with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, Mrozinski began working at 1st Source Bank, where she’s continued working for the past 14 years.
In 2014, Mrozinski was purchasing livestock for 1st Source Bank at the La Porte County Fair. Among her acquisitions was the champion carcass lamb.
“The 4H’er raises a lamb, they judge the lamb on hoof — so it's alive, and then they opt to make it a carcass animal,” Mrozinski said. “It is then taken to Sims Meat Processing in Kingsbury, Indiana, and processed. Through that carcass animal, you have to take the meat. Obviously, the bank was like, ‘What the heck do we do with this?’ I suggested we donate it to a food pantry in that 4H’er’s township.”
Since 2014, Mrozinski has continued to purchase animals through 1st Source Bank to donate every year. Other companies and organizations — like Horizon Bank, the La Porte County Fair Board, and others — found out about the operation and wanted to be part of it as well.
As more and more people wanted to be involved in donating meat, Mrozinski began to do research about the food pantries in the area. She found that there were a lot of unregistered food pantries that weren’t receiving any federal or state funding.
That's when she decided to make Operation Feed LaPorte County an official non-profit.
“We decided we wanted to become a 501(c)(3) so we could donate and use some of these federal and state programs to help the food pantries that may not be registered. We ended up contacting and helping 29 food pantries that operate in La Porte County,” said Mrozinski.
In the beginning stages of Operation Feed LaPorte County, meat was packed into a cooler and taken to be donated. Now, with so much more food, the non-profit needed something that could hold thousands of pounds of ground pork, ground beef, and ground lamb.
“Vanek Brothers Trucking donated and let us use a refrigerated trailer to house the meat until we can get it dispersed,” said Mrozinski. “On our disbursement day last year, we had not only a little over 5,000 pounds of meat but also about 6,000 pounds of non-perishable items.”
Recognizing others’ desire to help, Mrozinski founded Operation Feed LaPorte County to provide a secure organization for volunteers to contribute. This ensures that resources are utilized efficiently, maximizing the impact of every contribution.
“People want to help, but they may not necessarily know how. They just need a place to donate and somebody to organize it. Operation Feed LaPorte County is filled with people who want to help organize so that others have a place to donate,” Mrozinski said.
The dedication of those who volunteer with Operation Feed LaPorte County is exciting for Mrozinski. She enjoys bearing witness to the selflessness and compassion of so many individuals coming together to support a common cause.
“My favorite part about Operation Feed LaPorte County is seeing young people and those who have no necessary gain from helping who are willing to take time out of their own schedules to volunteer,” Mrozinski said. “It’s really neat to see how many people are willing to help.”
While working at 1st Source Bank and volunteering with Operation Feed LaPorte County, Mrozinski is also a member of eight different boards, two of which are the La Porte County Fair Board and Purdue Extension Board. Additionally, she has the honor of being part of the 2024 Michiana 40 Under 40 class.
Outside of work and volunteering, Mrozinski enjoys spending time on her farm with her husband and 1-year-old son. They own a small farm in Rolling Prairie that happens to be the same farm where her dad grew up.
“Our farm was my grandparents’ original homestead when they got married in 1955,” said Mrozinski. “We raise and competitively show sheep and goats, and my son is now a proud 1-year-old chicken farmer of six chickens.”
Mrozinski is grateful for all the sponsors and volunteers who have been involved with Operation Feed LaPorte County throughout the past 10 years. Their contributions have allowed the organization to reach heights she never would have imagined.
“I never thought that it would grow this big,” Mrozinski said. “I thought we would be purchasing a few animals here and there, and we'd help a few people. Now, 5,000 pounds feeds a lot of people.”