Community Gardener's Market at Lunch Break Seeks Donations

Lunch Break, the Red Bank soup kitchen and food pantry that is celebrating it’s 30th birthday this year, is dedicated to serving the ever increasing local population suffering food insufficiency.  Included in their mission is a commitment to focus on healthy eating, including fresh vegetables and fruits.  Once again Lunch Break is calling on local gardeners to help with that commitment.

If you find your garden harvest so bountiful that you have produce and herbs, as well as cut flowers, to spare and to share, Lunch Break would welcome your donations to their Community Gardener’s Market.  Guests/clients who are served by Lunch Break are so grateful when they can take home fresh produce with the non-perishable emergency provisions they collect from the food pantry.  The Gardener’s Market will take place each Tuesday in July, August and September between 8:30 am and 10:30 am.

Lunch Break was founded in the winter of 1983 by 35  people who who gathered to discuss the issue of hunger in Monmouth County, At that meeting committed themselves to their declared  mission to help the community members who find it difficult to provide the bare necessities for their families.  Lunch Break continues to serve community members in need today with the same passion, dedication and generous community support that is the foundation forged by Mrs. Todd in the 1980s. 

In 2012, 56,487 hot meals were served; free emergency provisions from the food pantry were distributed 7,128 times, and there were 8,879 clothing pickups.  In addition Lunch Break offers an Adopt-a-Family program during the holidays to fulfill the wishes of children of guests; invites job seekers to take part in a Suited for Success Program; distributes special food baskets for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas holidays; participates in disaster relief, as they did after Super Storm Sandy; offers cooking classes for children, including nutrition lessons; and Dinner Nights for the Community, among other things.  These services are free to Lunch Break guests, and are accomplished with a small paid staff supported by more than 2,000 volunteers, as well as the generosity of residents and organizations in the greater Red Bank area.

Gardeners from Red Bank and surrounding communities who wish to participate in the Community Gardener’s Market mark your calendar for Tuesdays between 8:30  am and 10:30 am, July through September.  The Market will be located inside Lunch Break at 121 Drs. James Parker Blvd. in Red Bank.  Garden donations can be made Monday afternoons, if possible; otherwise they can be delivered Tuesday mornings.  If you have any questions regarding your donations, please call Sharda Jetwani at 732-747-8577, extension 8.  Your generosity will be greatly appreciated.

To learn more about Lunch Break, its activities and events, go to www.lunchbreak.org.  They can also be followed on Facebook and reached at 732-747-8577 or info@lunchbreak.org.