RED BANK – As the directors of Lunch Break work to support increasing requests from individuals seeking basic necessities and job skills training, a proposal to expand the organization’s current overcrowded facility has won unanimous Red Bank Zoning Board of Adjustment approval, a major step in a $12 million capital campaign.
In a press release, Lunch Break directors said, “Many in our community are facing hardship as a result of the COVID-19 economic fallout. Whether because of unemployment, under-employment, homelessness or trying to survive on fixed incomes, the number of community members struggling with food and financial insecurities continues to escalate.”
In 2020, Lunch Break witnessed a sharp rise in demand for groceries, with a 111% increase in food pickups from 2019, and a 22% increase in visitors arriving for continental breakfast and lunch, served six days a week, and Friday community dinners. The resource center sought the expansion to advance its mission to meet an unrelenting need, according to the press release.
“We are thrilled about the (zoning board’s) approval, which could not come at a more appropriate time,” Executive Director Gwendolyn Love said. “I believe the community wholeheartedly supports the work of our mission and because of this, we can look forward to a new home with space to offer more services for the well-being of our neighbors.”
According to the press release, the trends Lunch Break directors have seen mirror a national and state picture: 38 million Americans experienced hunger in 2020, and in the continuing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, 42 million people, 13 million of them children, may face hunger in upcoming months.
But while the Lunch Break kitchen served more than 88,000 grab-and-go meals during 2020, and the organization’s Client Choice Pantry provided 21,000 grocery pickups, as well as meal deliveries made to homebound and displaced families, Lunch Break does much more, according to the press release.
As many as 100 people a month attend Lunch Break’s Life Skills Center’s coaching sessions, and in 2020, more than 40 participants went on to get jobs.
The Life Skills Center in Shrewsbury is the home base for training services, from resume review and GED testing prep to English as a Second Language and tutoring for people of all ages.
The services include training for job interviewing and public speaking, sharpening computer skills, household budgeting and goal planning, among others.
In addition, the Womyn’s Worth mentorship program offers workshops and lectures focused on women’s health, nutrition, wellness and self-empowerment, according to the press release.
Lunch Break also is prepared to help people with other needs, including the COVID-19 Emergency Fund which, since last year, provided financial assistance and gift cards to help more than 1,000 individuals pay urgent living expenses, including utility bills, according to the press release.
The planned expansion of Lunch Break’s cramped quarters at 121 Drs. James Parker Blvd. in Red Bank will enable volunteers and staff to serve more people, more efficiently, and to more safely accept truck deliveries and individual donations, according to the press release.
While relying on the generosity of donors and considerable community support, Lunch Break has begun a capital campaign with a goal of raising $12 million in donor contributions. The $12 million cost estimate is based on a comprehensive facility requirement study.
To better accommodate Lunch Break services and new initiatives, including a pending merger with nonprofit Family Promise of Monmouth County, as well more warehouse and operations space, the plans, prepared by architects Kellenyi Johnson Wagner, call for a two-story addition which, in total, will add 8,236 square feet to the building’s original 5,080-foot design, providing for a loading dock and more space for truck parking and safer and easier off-loading of deliveries.
The expansion would meet a need for space in all of Lunch Break’s daily operations, bringing the now off-site Life Skills Center into the main building, according to the press release.