BOARD SELECTS
DENNIS MICAI
TO RUN TASK

Board member tapped to lead soup kitchen

TRENTON -- Dennis Micai said yesterday that his new job as executive director of the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen is to make his job unnecessary.

"Unfortunately it looks like it's a growth business," said Micai. "At some point in time, I'd like to put us out of business."

TASK Board of Trustees Chairman Jim Parker announced yesterday that Micai, who has been a TASK board member for three years, will replace outgoing Executive Director Peter Wise.

The soup kitchen on Escher Street has grown from serving soup out of a church basement in 1982 to an organization with 19 full-time employees and a $1.6 million budget in 2006.

Micai served as chairman of a TASK committee that planned a reorganization with separate fund-raising, operations and administrative departments. When the committee made the plan, it appeared that Wise would remain executive director, but Micai applied for the post after Wise decided to retire.

"I've been involved with TASK for a long time on different levels," said Micai, who worked for more than 30 years at the Mercer County Board of Social Services until 2004, the last six years as county welfare director.

Micai has been the executive director of the Arc Mercer for the past 2 1/2 years but said TASK's mission of working to feed the hungry and advocate for the poor attracted him.

"It's a mission I'm aligned to," said Micai, a 60-year-old Upper Freehold resident.

Wise, 66, has been the soup kitchen's executive director since 1998, the longest tenure in the organization's history. While he said he is grieving over leaving TASK, knowing that Micai is succeeding him helps.

"He comes with extraordinary credentials," Wise said. "I think he has a real heart for the mission."

Parker said he couldn't imagine a more qualified person for the job than Micai. His application stood out from the 42 others who sought the job, Parker said.

The final three applicants were interviewed by Parker and four members of a search committee.

Parker said the reorganization plan will allow TASK to prepare for the future, which includes a proposed 35,000-square-foot addition to the soup kitchen. The organization served 172,000 meals last year.

Micai will begin working with Wise tomorrow and officially take over as executive director on March 5 after Wise's last day on March 2.