Hi everyone!

My name is Mike Waseda, and I am a MBA student and the manager at the Warming House.
After the pandemic started in Mar. 2020, I started as a volunteer at first. At that time, what’s in my mind was “just do anything I can do.” Since then, I have decided to be at the Warming House, trying to contribute back to the SBU community and the people that helped me along the way to become who I am today. In fact, except this summer I was in Italy doing an intership for three months, I have been dedicated myself to the Warming House, and it has been an amazing expereince in my life.

To be honest, I never imagined myself working for a soup kitchen and ending up being the manager. When I was a coordinator, the biggest surprise was discovering how much I love being at the Warming House and the passion I developed for it. During the lockdown, I was at the point of pursuing my dreams and future career (I still am and I always will be), and it was one of the hardest times for me to get it over being remained on campus alone. Encountering the Warming House was just life-changing. It unexpectedly gave me a chance to learn many aspects of what life is really about through our volunteers and guests. All the experiences at the Warming House are my priceless assets that I would like to take to the next generations of ours.

The Warming House has always told me how to stay strong, confident, and humble when times are hard. It also gives me different kinds of challenges with a good amount of pressure from daily operations such as food preps, taking care of volunteers and guests, problem-solvings, supporting coordinators, and developping the relationships with other local communities and organizations. This is what I love the most about being at the Warming House, firends and community. I also love the relationship with my coordinators, that we never hesitate to talk about somehting and bring up new/challenging ideas. It always keeps me motivated and challenging. I can say that the Warming House is the best place to learn the real life skills in the SBU community. More importantly, I appreciate all my coordinators, volunteers, my director Alice, and all others associated with the Warming House.

My dream now is to sustain this wonderful community for the next generations of St. Bonaventure University and the Olean community as the first of my life, and I am glad to join this #GivingTuesdayatBonas to make my dream come true today. Thank you very much for each and every one of my volunteers, friends, and families who have always supported me and the Warming House!!  

Go Bonnies!!