Lunch Break To Celebrate Expanded Home In Red Bank

RED BANK, NJ — Lunch Break has come home - and it will celebrate with its own housewarming later this month.

The community services agency has returned since January to newly renovated and expanded headquarters at 121 Drs. James Parker Boulevard.

And the vision of one its founders, Norma Todd, will be celebrated on April 25 at its official grand opening, with a ribbon cutting and a dedication of Norma Todd Way.

"With the expansion, we look at ourselves now not just as a soup kitchen anymore. We're not just a pantry," said Gwendolyn Love, executive director of 16 years. "We're a community service organization, providing multiple programs to break the cycle of poverty, helping all of Monmouth County."

The event April 25 is by invitation only, for occupancy reasons. It will be attended by Norma Todd's daughters, Coralie Todd and Cynthia Takeyama.

Todd was a co-founder in 1983 of Lunch Break. Born and raised in Monmouth County, Todd traveled the world with her husband, James, a foreign service officer in the U.S. Department of State, and she was involved with community service wherever she lived. You can learn more about Todd's life on the Lunch Break website.

Now, over 41 years later, a Lunch Break for the future has been realized.

Father Al Tamayo, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church that served many needs of Lunch Break during construction, had a tour of the new building.

"It's a beautiful location, but it's also homey and fits in the neighborhood," Tamayo said.

What's more, it brings together the many types of services under one much larger roof, part of the $12 million expansion.

"We cannot thank the many supporters who stepped up to make this a reality, as well as our team of architects, engineers, contractors and construction team," said Love.

Here are some of the features that will return or that are new to the site, the organization noted:

Clara's Closet, the Your Choice Pantry and Community Kitchen are all back.

All of these spaces were renovated and expanded, allowing the organization to serve more people more efficiently, it says.

The expanded space made possible by the project includes a first-floor, 2,700-square-foot warehouse with cold storage. Previously, food was stored in the basement and staff and volunteers would carry food up and down stairs or in the elevator.

"New aspects of the facility that we are really excited about is our training room, which can seat up to 95 individuals. We anticipate this being a space to inform, educate and enrich our community," said Kevin McGee, director of operations.

Currently, Lunch Break runs its ESL and Alliance for Success programs there in the evenings. It also has a Health and Wellness room that has a training kitchen for Kids Cooking classes.

"We intend for this to be a center for health and wellness education and instruction, that will include mindfulness, healthy cooking and eating and yoga," McGee said.

Father Tamayo said the interior of the building is light-filled and modern with a much larger waiting area - yet welcoming as it always was.

It even has an informal library in the lobby that stores books some members of the community will fill and organize. "We are working on having a 'little free library' on the front porch as well," McGee said.

And another outside feature, a mural for the building, is in the works.

There were entries from artists and Jill Gwydir-Govel, director of development, said Lunch Break has chosen a designer for the mural and work will begin soon.

St. Anthony's was "extremely gracious and kind in allowing us to utilize their space for a little over a year and absolutely deserves accolades," McGee said.

While April 25 is an invitation-only event, Gwydir-Govel added that she expects a public event to be coming in May.

And here is a re-cap of services that are regularly offered:

• Your Choice Pantry: Now open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Wednesdays; other hours are Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.; and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
• Food Donations: Mondays to Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon.
• Community Kitchen: Mondays to Fridays, with breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. On Saturdays, there is hot breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. with a bagged lunch offered from 10 a.m. to noon.
• Community Dinners: Fridays, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Clara's Closet Red Bank: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon.
• Clothing Donations: Mondays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon.

Lunch Break can be reached at 732-747-8577, or visit its website.