Some believe that, for all the negativity that exists in the world, there are just as many people devoted to doing good things.
Mike Murphy, one could say, is such a person.
Since he launched the non-profit, Let’s Ketchup, one year ago, roughly $16,000 has been donated to local school districts to reduce unpaid lunch debt.
According to the Education Data Initiative, the national public school meal debt totals $262 million per year, with an average annual meal debt per child of $180.60.
In Illinois, the total school meal debt amounts to $81,858,756, and the number of food insecure children totals 453,260.
As Let’s Ketchup has gained momentum, Murphy and his team continue planning to partner with local schools on paying lunch debt and providing food and essentials to kids in need.
For his efforts in building a non-profit from the ground up that has seen substantial success in its first year, Bourbonnais resident Mike Murphy has been named the Daily Journal’s 2023 Young Citizen of the Year.
<strong>ABOUT MIKE</strong>
Born and raised in New York City, Murphy, 37, has lived in the Bourbonnais area since 2004, when he began his studies in philosophy at Olivet Nazarene University.
Despite his big-city origins, Murphy said that he appreciates the blending of urban and rural in Kankakee County.
Compared to the 10-acre farm in Vermont where he attended a boarding school called Fields of Harvest Ministries, Bourbonnais actually seemed a lot more bustling.
“I was a little bit of a knucklehead when I was a kid …” Murphy admits. “[My parents] sent me there with some really awesome people that helped me turn my life around, and that was really a positive experience.”
Murphy works as a project manager for Patra Corporation, a California-based company specializing in the insurance industry.
Previously, he worked in the mental health and special education fields for almost eight years, including stints at Indian Oaks residential treatment center in Manteno and the former Camp Camelot for special needs students in Bourbonnais.
He met his wife, Mallory Kowaleski-Murphy, while working as a classroom counselor at Camp Camelot. She is currently a teacher in Bourbonnais Elementary School District and serves on the board of directors for Let’s Ketchup.
Grateful for the help he received with his own mental health and behavior issues when he was young, Murphy sought to “pay forward” that same type of support to those in need after he graduated from college in 2009.
While Murphy enjoys his current work, it doesn’t give him the same gratification of helping others as his former career path.
“Truthfully, if it wasn’t for a combination of having really supportive parents and having those folks at Fields of Harvest help me redirect my life, I might not have ended up in the spot I am now,” he said.
<strong>LET’S KETCHUP</strong>
Murphy, his wife and a group of friends sought to start a non-profit as a means of giving back and finding a sense of greater purpose.
“That was something we were reaching for,” he said. “We all have professional jobs, and that’s great, but how do we go the extra mile and help the community?”
Once the group settled on school lunch debt as a cause everyone could get behind — and came up with a catchy name — they set out to form an official organization.
Let’s Ketchup gained 501(c)(3) status in January 2023.
“It’s hard to believe we’ve already been around for a year,” Kowaleski-Murphy said. “It’s crazy to think back and realize this all started because Mike got an idea one day and decided to roll with it.”
She witnessed her husband fill countless late nights with researching and checking off to-do lists.
He took care of all the tedious paperwork and behind-the-scenes tasks that people might not realize are involved with non-profit work.
“When Mike decides to do something, the only option is to follow through,” Kowaleski-Murphy said. “To say I’m proud to be his wife is an understatement. It’s exciting to see the positive impact he is making for students and school communities as a whole.”
The board of directors also includes John Adams, Josh DeRocco, Chase Zajc, John Mullen and Ty Harris.
In the past year, Let’s Ketchup donated $7,000 to Bourbonnais Elementary School District 53, $3,000 to Bradley Elementary School District 61, and $3,000 to Manteno Community Unit School District 5.
A nearly $3,000 donation from an anonymous couple who read about Let’s Ketchup in the Daily Journal went toward canceling all outstanding lunch debt in Momence Community Unit School District 1.
“That was pretty cool that we could kind of clear the books for them,” Murphy said of the Momence donation. “Ultimately, it was $16,000 in total [to the four school districts].”
Donations have been sought through social media campaigns and speaking with people at events like the Kankakee Farmers Market. Donation nights at local restaurants have also been a fundraising staple.
Let’s Ketchup plans to continue partnering with more Kankakee County school districts to cancel lunch debt.
In addition, <a href="https://www.daily-journal.com/news/local/bourbonnais_news/lets-ketchup-helps-more-schools-launches-new-campaign/article_2219db48-6c5d-11ee-b8b1-9bc314073bc0.html" target="_blank">the group is also launching an initiative</a> to sponsor school care closets, which provide students with non-perishable food and hygiene supplies.
Items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, socks, gloves and underwear in school care closets are often stocked at the expense of teachers and staff.
Donation drop boxes around Kankakee County, as well as a partnership with Feeding America food banks, are in the works. Bringing mobile food pantries to the community is another goal.
<strong>SPREADING POSITIVITY</strong>
The Let’s Ketchup team took inspiration from the late Nick Huffman, who owned the Looney Bin and sold Christmas ornaments from the Bradley bar to pay for local school lunch debt.
In the past year, Grant Park second-grader Paisley Riechers, whose mom was cousins with Huffman, <a href="https://www.daily-journal.com/news/grant-park-girl-raising-money-for-school-lunch-debt/article_a847bc0c-7a4b-11ee-bc29-bb34f9060172.html" target="_blank">started her own campaign to pay off lunch debts in Grant Park schools</a>. Paisley took inspiration both from Huffman and Let’s Ketchup.
Murphy said he has talked with the family and was impressed with Paisley’s initiative.
“It’s kind of like, good things perpetuate more good things, you know?” Murphy said. “I felt like we were on the same team, and it was cool to see that happening. So I was like, ‘Oh, man, let’s keep this rolling.’”
Similar to his experience learning about the cause when Huffman shined a light on it, Murphy said people often don’t realize how great the need is with families struggling to pay school lunch debt.
He has found people are more than willing to help once they learn about the issue.
“It’s been reassuring that there’s still a lot of good people out there, and particularly in our community in Kankakee County,” Murphy said.
<strong>‘MIKE’S THAT GUY’</strong>
Eric Peterson, founder of Project Headspace and Timing, gave advice to the Let’s Ketchup team when they were first attempting to get their non-profit in motion.
Peterson’s work with his own non-profit that promotes mental health resources for veterans led him to being named the Daily Journal’s 2020 Young Citizen of the Year.
“I couldn’t think of anybody better to receive this award other than Mike,” he said.
Until he met with Murphy and another board member to discuss their idea for Let’s Ketchup over a beer, Peterson said he was unaware of the extent of the school lunch debt issue.
“While the success of any organization, in my opinion, is very much a collaborative effort, it takes somebody to spearhead it,” he said. “It takes somebody to be the one in front driving everything and getting it done, and Mike’s that guy.”
Peterson noted that he has known Murphy for years. The two met when they were both training for Strongman competitions.
“The positive, warm person who is outgoing and makes you feel that you belong and makes you feel that you’re a part of something, and just that positive person — he’s always been that person,” Peterson said.
Peterson said he hopes the recognition will not only provide some well deserved validation for Murphy, but also that it will demonstrate the potential for good that can be done.
“If you see an injustice, if you see a problem, you can change it,” Peterson said. “It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of effort, and you’re definitely going to need some help. But it’s doable. Mike is an example of that. He saw an issue; he knew what needed to be done, and he put all his energy into working on fixing that problem. And he’s been able to do it school by school.”
• Female Citizen of the Year — Feb. 3
• Female Sports Citizen of the Year — Feb. 3
• Male Citizen of the Year — Feb. 7
• Lifetime Achievement — Feb. 10
• Male Sports Citizen of the Year — Feb. 10