BY GRACIE GIESE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
GREEN BAY – Whether you remember him from his days appearing on television or have seen him in action serving the people of Green Bay, Bob Hornacek has been a staple of the community.
From decades in journalism to working with Paul’s Pantry, Hornacek certainly has a story of dedication in community service. Before beginning his journey at the Green Bay food pantry Paul’s Pantry, Hornacek worked as a journalist and investigative reporter for Fox 11 News.
Over the course of 20 years, he would also host “CW 14 Focus,” where Hornacek worked on over 200 episodes featuring interviews with prominent communities.
His first ever episode was with Craig Robbins, executive director of Paul’s Pantry, beginning a serendipitous series of events that lead Bob to the company many years later.
In 2017, Hornacek was ordained as a deacon in the Catholic Church.
“It’s a very service-oriented ministry,” Hornacek noted.
As service became a more important part of his faith, Bob began looking at professional service opportunities within the Green Bay community.
While he hoped that an opportunity would align itself with his job contract ending, “all of the sudden every opportunity [he] was looking at disappeared.”
It wasn’t until 2019 — close to his next contract expiring — that Bob saw a posting for an assistant executive director role at Paul’s Pantry.
The position would entail “learning the whole operation, forwards, backwards, everything.”
Hornacek was not immediately sold on the position, but over the following weeks the role weighed on his mind and Bob shared, “it almost got to the point where it was keeping me up at night.”
Hornacek couldn’t shake the call to service at Paul’s Pantry, telling that on a rare occasion of bringing his eldest two sons to school and “having an argument in [his] head with God” that “some people might call prayer” he suddenly felt a calling from God to service.
During this awakening Hornacek asked God for a sign, and “at that moment, from the other direction, a big Paul’s Pantry truck pulled out right in front of [him].”
After this, Bob turned in his application to the pantry.
The signs would continue during the interview process, with the repetition of seeing Mathew 25.
This passage appeared in a book he borrowed from his church, a radio show opening and his parish’s bulletin and even on the side of Paul’s Pantry.
Bob went in for what he described as “the worst interview I’ve ever done in my life, I think,” but days later he was shocked to be called in to receive a job offer from Paul’s Pantry.
In June, 2019, Hornacek began working full time as the assistant executive director of Paul’s Pantry. Noracek said “it was like God put me here just in time” as he would become crucial to maintaining operations during COVID-19.
In working a job that has continued to bring him into encounters with a wide variety of people, Hornacek shared the importance of treating people with “dignity, respect and understanding,” because “everyone who comes to Paul’s Pantry has a story.”
Today, Hornacek closes in on four years of employment at Paul’s Pantry.
Reflecting on his time so far, he notes the importance of building relationships within the community and serving through the diaconate.
“God has created in me the heart to serve,” he noted.