Grieving Chicagoland Entrepreneur Finds Meaning (And Opportunity) by Helping Others

PALATINE, Illinois USA, 2025-10-20 — /EPR Network/ — After losing his mother, longtime Chicago businessman Michael Healy set out to perform 100 acts of kindness in her honor, aiming to complete his quest in time for the first anniversary of his mom’s passing. In less than a year’s time, he had accomplished nearly 300 such acts. That was back in 2023 and he has continued this practice ever since.

Along the way, he co-founded Waste Not Want Not, maker of a food rescue app that’s quietly building community across Chicagoland. While visiting a bakery one day, Michael learned about a food rescue app that the bakery had been using to sell off their excess wares. He began using the app almost immediately, as a means to achieve his goal of 100 acts of kindness. The concept was simple enough, use the app to buy food and then give it away, expecting nothing in return.

It was the smiling faces that Healy saw, both when picking up his orders from food vendors and when gifting it to others, that inspired him to go further. Appreciating the sense of community he experienced and interest from individuals in what he was doing, Michael even went so far as to apply for a job with the app developer. “They were less than enthused,” quips Healy, who then became inspired to create an app of his own.

The rest, as they say, is Waste Not Want Not Want Not history. Combining his own expertise with others in his vast network of business professionals, Michael Healy cofounded the Chicagoland company that has produced the free WNWN (pronounced “win-win”) app, a platform that is now rolling out across the area.

But the story doesn’t end there. To this day, Michael utilizes the WNWN platform, not as its cofounder but as a customer, buying up quantities of still-fresh surplus foods and then giving it all away to nursing homes, fire houses, and more. But why?

“In my mind, I’ve been making a difference,” explains Healy. “I’m also always happy engaging and speaking with people. I have no reason to stop.”

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About Waste Not Want Not

Based in Palatine, Illinois, Waste Not Want Not LLC was founded in 2024 as a developer of service-based software applications. The company’s leaders have each spent decades working in the service sector and have drawn upon their deep knowledge and experience in bringing the Waste Not Want Not app to fruition. Their free WNWN (“win-win”) app is designed to help food lovers connect with local food vendors and retailers for the benefit of both parties. For more information visit wastenotwantnot.com.