By John Burton
RED BANK – It’s all coming together for Lunch Break, but the need is still there and the organization that helps the needy still needs help.
Lunch Break soup kitchen and food pantry at 121 Drs. James Parker Boulevard is nearing completion of its three-phase renovation project. The work will give the facility some much-needed space to continue its services and add new ones.
“It is an extraordinary time” for Lunch Break, said Kate McMahon, the organization’s development director. “This building will allow us to service people in a dignified manner.”
While work continues on the approximately $4 million project that expands the more than 30-year-old facility, demand continues to grow and challenge the facility.
“There really is an unprecedented demand for our services,” McMahon said.
Lunch Break representatives are continuing to look at including more services as well as space to meet those needs. Funding is needed to accomplish that.
The new space will offer the organization, which offers food and social services to those in need, the chance to improve how it delivers those services.
“We’re changing the way we do things at Lunch Break,” Executive Director Gwendolyn Love said. “It’ll be more organized.”
The work, which began in March with demolition of an existing structure, is continuing on the new three-story, 6,300-square-foot annex, which adjoins the existing facility. Construction was made possible by the donation of the neighboring property by the Gmelich family of Rumson.
The annex will be used to consolidate administrative offices, storage area, meeting rooms for clients and social service provider representatives plus there will be space for the Lunch Break’s clothing distribution operation, according to Love.
The space, which is expected to be finished within a month, will house the facility’s latest addition, what Love calls “a choice pantry.”
Traditionally, Lunch Break has put together bags of foods and a variety of basic necessities for distribution to its food pantry clients. The choice pantry program will give the clients the chance to make individual selections, based upon family and dietary needs.
This way of operating, Love said, “gives us the opportunity to interact with clients more one-to-one.” More importantly, she said, it is a “more dignified way of working with people.”
The existing site has undergone a complete renovation, with new equipment for an expanded kitchen where daily lunches are prepared.
This week, Lunch Break began being serving lunches in the space, which can seat nearly twice as many as previously. The area also has a donation drop-off area, renovated restrooms and conference and meeting rooms.
The facility’s basement will house Clara’s Boutique, where donated clothing will be available for selection by clients.
Photo by John Burton
While surveying the just-completed kitchen last week, Tyron Burr, executive chef and pantry and kitchen manager, said he was “excited to get started” working in the new space. The new and expanded kitchen means “more efficiency, more meals served.”
Long term, he said, the renovations will mean being able to conduct cooking classes and demonstrations, possibly as early as this spring, and allow dinners and weekend meals to be served.
Since work began September on the kitchen and main facility, lunches had been cooked at the First Presbyterian Church at Tower Hill on Harding Road and at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church on Bridge Avenue. Daily lunches were served at the A.M.E. Zion Church on Shrewsbury Avenue.
Since that time, Lunch Break has seen a 20-percent increase in soup kitchen demand and a 35-percent increase for the food pantry, according to Love.
Before the project, operations were spread over a number of different spots with administrative offices in one building, food pantry and soup kitchen in another, a clothing warehouse in Shrewsbury, McMahon said.
The work being done on Drs. James Parker Boulevard will allow for the facility to consolidate its operation, making it easier for clients, Love said.
Lunch Break recently received an anonymous $1 million contribution. Another group of contributors have put up $500,000 to be used for matching contributions made to the capital campaign to support ongoing operations and to acquire additional space for future programs, McMahon said.
“I think people need to know we need them to continue with their generosity,” she said.
