Joyce Campbell, currently associate executive director for external affairs at Catholic Charities, will succeed Dennis Micai.
TRENTON -- Joyce Campbell, a 30-year nonprofit veteran, has been chosen to lead the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, or TASK.
Campbell, currently associate executive director for external affairs at Catholic Charities, will succeed Dennis Micai, who is retiring Aug. 1, TASK announced.
Joyce Campbell "I am grateful for the opportunity to lead such a well-respected organization," Campbell said in a statement. "TASK not only nurtures the body, but clearly the human spirit, as well, and I will endeavor to build upon the legacy so finely crafted by previous executive directors."
TASK said Campbell has a strong record of collaborating with nonprofits and community and government organizations to advocate for resources for the area's most vulnerable.
"After reviewing approximately 90 applicants, we decided on Joyce because of her commitment to our area, broad experience, history of collaboration, and knowledge of nonprofits and government at all levels," TASK Board of Trustees Chairman Jim Parker said.
Campbell has worked for Catholic Charities for 20 years, working in the emergency services and becoming a director before being named Director of Community and Government Relations, before her current position.
TASK executive director to retire
She's also the vice president of the Board of the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey and a member of the Board of Trustees of NAMI Mercer, the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Micai announced late last year he'd be retiring in August. He is the longest-serving director in TASK's 34-year history and oversaw a dramatic expansion of the soup kitchen's effort to feed the hungry in Mercer County's outer ring communities.
For transitions purposes, Campbell will join TASK on June 20. "I have known Joyce for many years and am familiar with her outstanding record of achievement," Micai said.
One of Campbell's first challenges, Micai said, will be overseeing the soup kitchen's building expansion, for which they've received a $450,000 challenge grant. TASK hopes to break ground on the project in the fall.
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