Matt S. has been a strong advocate and leader in raising awareness about epilepsy for most of his life. During his six-year career at our King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, store, Matt’s leadership team took notice of his commitment to the cause and joined in his efforts by supporting local and national Walks to End Epilepsy. Over the years, Matt has presented on a variety of stages, big and small, to help people better understand epilepsy and how to respond when someone has a seizure. He says it is important for others to understand the neurological disorder because it is so common in the U.S.

“There are 110,000 people in eastern Pennsylvania, 3.4 million in the U.S., 65 million in the world that live with epilepsy,” said Matt. “It is the fourth most common neurological disorder, but not a lot of people understand what it is or how it impacts people.”

Part of raising awareness and increasing understanding includes the volunteer work Matt has done in partnership with his Wegmans colleagues. With his guidance and participation, the King of Prussia store has supported numerous events and activities for the Epilepsy Foundation. Whether it was donating bottled water for walks, gift cards and other prizes for the local Epilepsy Foundation gala, Matt says the team was always willing to help with awareness.

“When my store manager and service area manager found out I was going to be one of three speakers at the national walk in Washington, D.C. this past spring, they reached out to the Wisconsin Ave. Wegmans in D.C. to ask for support,” he says. “They became one of the sponsors for the event and donated water, snacks, and gift cards for catering at the after party.”

Matt noted that Wegmans was the only sponsor that wasn’t a pharmaceutical company or other company created on behalf of people with epilepsy, which was a point of pride for him.

He says he is open with his co-workers about the disorder in hopes that he can dispel myths or misconceptions about epilepsy and adds that he appreciates the support and accommodations he has been given to maintain a fulltime job.

Matt recently took on a new role at our Concordville, Pennsylvania, store as a full-time meat department customer service representative. While he’s working with a new team, he continues to receive support from the company and his colleagues as he works on plans to provide a virtual seizure first aid class for his colleagues.

To learn more about epilepsy, visit the Epilepsy Foundation website.