Lunch Break issues
must be addressed
Less than a year after the existing Lunch Break board of trustees was ousted, one of the new members of the new board has resigned.
When he stepped down, King David Jones listed several reasons for doing so, including the main complaint of the ousted board of the West Bergen Street soup kitchen and food pantry.
Specifically, Jones said food is being stolen on a large scale and that both the paid administration and current board are turning a blind eye to it.
Last year, when those same accusations were made, employees at the nonprofit denied them and engineered a wholesale change in the board to prevent it from acting to remedy the situation.
Jones, to his credit, apparently assumed his position on the board as one to be taken seriously and took an active role in Lunch Break activities.
For his trouble, what Jones seems to be getting is more trouble. While there appears to be a personal conflict between Jones and one employee of Lunch Break, it is unlikely that someone who has put in the time and effort he has would try to tear down the organization over such a dispute.
With that in mind, his accusations must be taken seriously. But apparently, that is not being done by the board.
In all likelihood, the larger community will not see things the same way the current board does. Last year’s debacle undoubtedly hurt both the reputation and fund-raising ability of Lunch Break. This year’s mess will only add fuel to that fire.
Throughout last year’s conflict and this year’s return to the same arena, everyone involved tiptoed around the role of Norma Todd in the problem.
Even in his strongly worded letter of resignation, Jones paused to speak admiringly of Lunch Break’s director.
It is neither racism nor ageism to say that whoever the director of Lunch Break is, that person has to be held responsible for problems in the organization.
If Norma Todd will not or cannot address those problems, the board has an obligation to replace her and see that the issues are finally dealt with.
And if board members cannot fulfill their responsibilities, they have an obligation to step down.