By Allison Perrine
Gwen Love, the executive director of Lunch Break, will receive this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Human Dignity Award at the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County’s 32nd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, Jan. 15.
RED BANK – This year’s 32nd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration hosted by the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County will go on despite a new setting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of gathering at tables and enjoying a bite to eat among friends and colleagues, the hour-long Jan. 15 event will be held virtually via Zoom, free of charge. But that won’t make the day any less special.
“For us to be in a pandemic and to make the decision on whether or not to host this event, it was easy for us. We knew that we had to continue with this,” said Laurie Goganzer, YMCA president and CEO. “Dr. King’s teachings of unity, social justice, peace – I mean they couldn’t come at a better time than right now in our community.” She added that with about 300 attendees at last year’s event, making the program virtual will make it that much easier for more community members to join in.
Viewers will celebrate the life and legacy of King as well as the work of Gwendolyn Love, executive director of Lunch Break in Red Bank. She is this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Human Dignity Award recipient; the award honors individuals whose principles and ideals reflect those of Dr. King.
“When I think about Gwen Love and Lunch Break, they clearly are providing help for today and hope for tomorrow,” said event chairman and Y board member Michael Wright. “Her name, Love, is reflective of what she does. She spreads the love…her caring and compassionate leadership has impacted not only Monmouth County but even beyond.”
While other YMCA branches nationwide have given out the award for a number of years, 2020 was the first year the Greater Monmouth County branch bestowed it on a Monmouth County resident. Last year’s honor went to Wayne Boatwright, vice president of diversity and inclusion at Hackensack Meridian Health. Some of the criteria examined by the event committee is the person’s courage, commitment to seeing beyond borders, acceptable of challenges and risks for the greater good, and more, said Wright.
“It’s one of the highest honors one could receive, particularly in recognition of Dr. King and what he stood for,” said Wright. And as the team searched the community with the criteria in mind, “it was hands down, kind of a unanimous committee decision, that Gwen Love is that person.”
Love has been with Lunch Break for 12 years, an organization that provides food, clothing, life skills and fellowship to individuals and families in need in Monmouth County and elsewhere. Under her leadership, Lunch Break has served over 6,000 hot meals each month to those in need and has given over 850 families groceries through the Client Choice pantry, according to the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County. Thousands of individuals are given clothing and household items through the organization as well.
The pandemic has been abit of a challenge. The number of active volunteers has been decreased significantly, but that has not stopped its representatives from providing hot meals for people each day. However, indoor dining was been paused, programs were adjusted and much of daily work became virtual and grab-and-go.
“We’ve been very blessed that we have the type of talent that we have through our volunteers who have been amazing to keep us online, technically able to continue our mission beyond food,” said Love.
She credited her fellow Lunch Break staff, board members, volunteers, the community, local government and more for their support that ultimately led to her nomination and the good work the organization was able to accomplish this year.
“I share it with them because they’ve made it possible that we continue to be open,” said Love. “I think it’s really been an amazing thing to watch and see how everyone has just come together and we always have.”
Love will not be the only individual recognized at the Jan. 15 event. This year, two area high school students will be recognized for win- ning the MLK student essay contest organized by the YMCA and will read their works aloud. Each winner will receive a $1,500 scholarship, sponsored by Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey Natural Gas and PorterPlus Realty, and a full year membership to a YMCA of Greater Monmouth County branch of their choice.
The event’s keynote speaker will be Ker win Webb, youth and young adult pastor at Second Baptist Church in Asbury Park and president of the Greater Red Bank Area NAACP. According to the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County, Webb believes in education, mentoring, training and community development, and in 2013 he founded the RMW Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization with a mission to “feed, educate and empower.”
The event will be held from 8 to 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 15. All can register for free by visiting ymcanj.org/MLK.
This article was originally published in the Jan. 7-13, 2021 edition of The Two River Times.
