Lunch Break, business
honor memory of King
Salt Creek Grille
donates $2,500 to
Red Bank soup kitchen
These area students used their time off from school on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday to volunteer at the Lunch Break soup kitchen on Bergen Place in Red Bank.
RED BANK — Norma Todd, Lunch Break’s director, sees the work of the borough’s soup kitchen and food pantry as an extension and a complement to the work of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
"It may be a holiday, but we never close on Martin Luther King’s birthday because he always advocated feeding the people," Todd said.
Two of the owners of the Salt Creek Grille, a Rumson restaurant, agreed and used the day as an opportunity to present Lunch Break with a $2,512 donation.
Steve Bidgood and Tim McCune, two of the three co-owners of the restaurant, each year designate a charity to receive some assistance.
The money is raised, Bidgood said, through the proceeds obtained by patrons ordering a certain dish.
Anytime a guest orders the restaurant’s mesquite grilled half chicken, $1 is set aside for a charity.
"A lot of guests specifically ordered it when they knew where the money was going," Bidgood said.
The Bingham Avenue eatery opened its doors in April 1998, and its owners have always believed strongly in giving back to the community, added Bidgood, who is also the restaurant’s managing partner.
The owners also conduct similar fund-raisers at their two other restaurants, located in California, he noted.
"The community is what supports the restaurant," he said. "We give back because they support us."
Lunch Break was established in 1986 to feed the area’s hungry and assist those who were incapable of helping themselves.
Since then, the nonprofit organization has grown to become a food pantry as well as a site to help people navigate their way to needed social services.
In the last few months, Lunch Break had become embroiled in a controversy in which many of the previous board of trustees members were voted out and replaced. And accusations of stealing by employees and volunteers, as well as charges of racism, ageism and malfeasance on the part of the former board members, were volleyed back-and-forth.
There has been much concern that all the publicity over the fractious infighting would affect donations.
Karen Irvine, a spokeswoman for the restaurant, said that despite all the recent developments, the owners had no worries about making the donations.
The owners decided more than a year ago to give the funds to Lunch Break, long before the controversy erupted, Irvine explained.
"A promise is a promise, and people are still being fed," she said.
No restrictions have been placed on the donation, Bidgood said, believing the organization is the best one to decide how the resources should be allocated.
"I don’t know what Lunch Break needs," Bidgood acknowledged. "I was very impressed by Norma Todd, and I feel Lunch Break has been doing a great job," he added.
Next year the restaurant will be donating to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, according to Bidgood.
"Each year we do another charity," he said.
"We greatly appreciate what they (Salt Creek Grille) have done for us," Todd said. "It was very nice of them."
And despite all the brouhaha, Todd said Lunch Break’s work is moving forward.
On that day, she said, more than 60 lunches were served to adults and more than 15 meals went to children, an average number Todd said.
Since Monday was a holiday, schools were closed and some area students spent part of their day off volunteering at the Bergen Place soup kitchen.
Todd said between 15 and 20 students from area schools, some as far away as Asbury Park, came to help out.
Students from Red Bank Regional High School’s Black American Cultural Association were some of those who participated.
The 10 Red Bank Regional youth who helped serve lunch were participating in the Kindness and Justice Challenge 2001.
That initiative was developed by the Do Something Fund, a national nonprofit community development organization.
The purpose is to inspire young people to honor the memory of King by having them get involved in community activities.
The student members of the association also had been conducting a coat drive for the last two weeks. That clothing was donated to Lunch Break and is scheduled to be distributed to needy families and individuals in the area.
"We’re trying to change the culture here," explained C. Arthur Albrizio, the school’s principal. "We’re trying to get the kids more active in the community, especially on a day like this."