Tri-C Grad Enters Spotlight With Wedding Gift

Melanie Tapajna and her groom donated food from COVID-19 canceled reception to shelter

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C^®) alumna Melanie Tapajna and her husband didn’t jet off on a honeymoon after saying “I do” during the COVID-19 outbreak, but the story of their wedding traveled the world. 

Tapajna and her husband, Tyler, generated international headlines after donating food from their canceled wedding reception to a Cleveland crisis center. The couple even helped serve the meals while dressed in their wedding attire. 

Their good deed did more than fill plates with food at Laura’s Place, a shelter for women and children run by The City Mission. It also filled hearts with happiness. 

“To see the smiling faces of those little kids — I just wanted to reach out and hug them,” Tapajna told the Washington Post. “Everyone was clapping for us, and one of the shelter’s directors said, ‘Welcome to your wedding reception.’ It was just a really sweet moment.” 

That moment was eventually shared with millions as the newlyweds appeared on national news shows such as Good Morning America and Today and countless other media outlets to tell the story. 

The city of Parma, where the couple recently bought a home, named them Citizens of the Month for September. 

Tapajna graduated from Tri-C in 2018 with an Associate of Arts degree before transferring to Cleveland State University and earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She plans to return to Tri-C in the spring to pursue a degree in American Sign Language.

September 17, 2020

John Horton, 216-987-4281 john.horton@tri-c.edu