JBJ Soul Kitchen Café Tenure Ending But Need In Toms River Remains, Organization Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — As the final days of the pop-up JBJ Soul Kitchen café count down, the JBJ Soul Foundation is encouraging people to continue to support its work.

The café will cease operating on April 30, after a decision by the Ocean County Library Commission in March.

"At the Library Commission meeting on Tuesday, March 17, the Library Commission accepted the recommendation of the Library Commission review committee to use the space in the Toms River Branch currently used as a café for an intergenerational meeting room space," Susan Quinn, director of the Ocean County Library, said in late March.

The café launched in February 2025 "at the invitation of the Ocean County Library to expand JBJ Soul Kitchen’s presence into the downtown area of Toms River, where the unhoused population has continued to grow," the foundation said Tuesday. It was "a quick response to the invitation and the severity of the need" to help those without shelter and those suffering from food insecurity.

"As the Pop-Up closes, the need in the community remains," the foundation said.

"During our time in the space, it quickly became clear there was a strong need for access to healthy, nutritious meals, along with additional community resources," said Rob Wood, assistant general manager. "Because of that, we worked to keep the operation running as long as possible. We were grateful to continue our mission past the end of this year’s Code Blue season, and we thank everyone who came out to support us while we were able to serve."

Over the 14 months the café has operated at the library, it has served more than 15,870 meals, supporting roughly 40 people who have been without housing long-term, and its collaboration with organizations that help people in need facilitated 276 referrals to service providers in multiple areas including including housing assistance, substance use support, mental health services, and other critical needs, the foundation said.

Nine people were able to get employment as a result of the collaborations and 13 people were placed in housing, the foundation said.

Of the meals it served, 79 percent went to people in need.

The café is not a soup kitchen; those who cannot pay for meals volunteer time at the cafe as their payment for the meal, the foundation has said.

Volunteers logged nearly 4,000 hours of service at the cafée, the foundation said.

"This includes students from Toms River High School South Business Academy as part of a partnership created prior to the start of this school year," the foundation said.

"I want to thank the community of downtown Toms River for embracing our Soul Kitchen model," said Dorothea Bongiovi, founder of JBJ Soul Kitchen. "The outpouring of encouragement and support has been incredibly humbling. I am also grateful for the opportunity to work with so many dedicated nonprofits. Your commitment and tenacity coupled with compassion, are an inspiration. Together, we focused on building meaningful, lasting solutions rather than temporary fixes."

The JBJ Soul Kitchen on Hooper Avenue, which is marking its 10th anniversary in May, continues to serve meals and connect people with essential resources, all while being "a place of dignity and connection for all who walk through its doors," the foundation said.

"If, at the end of the day, we were able to treat our neighbors with a little more kindness, dignity, and respect, that in itself is powerful," Dorothea Bongiovi said.