Superstorm Sandy 10 Years Later: Food Pantry Turned Post-Storm Refuge

RED BANK, NJ — With no power, downed trees and instances of property damage in town, Lunch Break became a magnet for many Red Bank residents who needed help after Superstorm Sandy struck.

Gwendolyn Love, the social service agency's executive director, remembers what that first day after the wind-ravaged night felt like 10 years ago.

"I said to my husband 'we have to go in,'" she said of getting to the Lunch Break home on Drs. Parker Boulevard.

With no phone contact there, she wasn't sure what she would find, she recalls, but the building stood strong.

"There was one little bush that was tilted - that was it," she recalled.

She said some other volunteers just showed up as she did to see what they could do for the families relying on Lunch Break, often for their daily bread.

And so began a period of making the best of a bad situation, and bringing its tradition of helping people to a wider community.

At first, Love recalls, the building had no electricity.

"We had gas so we could cook," she recalls, "but it wasn't safe without electricity."

So she said the Borough of Red Bank helped relocate the Lunch Break operation to the Salvation Army building on Newman Springs Road on the outskirts of the borough.

"It became a whole effort with the borough. The senior center driver would take people there," she said, so Lunch Break could provide meals and food even if not in its neighborhood.

"By day four or five we opened up, cooking and serving," Love said, with power restored to the building.

A port in the storm for the community

That's when the impact of the storm on people's lives came into even sharper focus.

Schools and businesses were often not operating, especially as power remained out in various areas. Without a job, clients were losing money. The need to provide food became even greater.

Lunch Break, already open six days, became a seven day a week operation, Love said. She said people would come into the parking lot day and night to receive canned goods.

"We became a resource for the community. This went on for months," Love said.

Love said there were so many aspects of life interrupted by the storm. People came to Lunch Break to charge their phones, for example, and to make calls if they didn't have a cell phone. People even came to Lunch Break to take a shower in their facilities, where there was warm water.

"You had people who never used Lunch Break before who came in. We had donors to our food pantry who needed food," Love recalled.

And there was the added element of community.

People came to warm up, to talk to each other over coffee, she said.

And Lunch Break also became a hub to help other food panties in a wider area, Love said.

Lunch Break connected to other nonprofits and religious groups to donate things like blankets, as well as nonperishable food items.

As much as people needed Lunch Break, others came to donate food. In fact, with refrigerators with no power, people had more frozen items to donate.

"It was amazing to see the generosity of people," Love said.

Impact on Red Bank and nearby towns

And all of this took place against a backdrop of disruption, that, while not at the level of devastation as in some oceanfront communities, still took a financial and emotional toll.

In a Patch article from March 2013, six months after Superstorm Sandy, according to an analysis of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs data by NJSpotlight.com, some 119 homeowners in Red Bank reported minor damages from the historic storm, while four suffered "major" damage, defined as between $8,000 and $28,800 in storm costs. Damage under $8,000 was considered "minor." Severe damage - defined as over $28,800 in costs - was reported for two homes.

At least 29 Red Bank rental units took damage in the storm, 21 suffering minor damage, six incurring major damage, and two reporting severe damage. Superstorm Sandy inflicted damage on 159 homes and rental units in Rumson and 72 in Shrewsbury. And businesses, too, reported damage.

The average Federal Emergency Management Agency damage inspection came in at $4,626 in the Red Bank zip code, where 272 homeowners sought FEMA assistance, according to FEMA data.

Going forward from Sandy

Perhaps the most practical result of the storm, Love said, was that it showed the need for a generator to keep the Lunch Break operation powered.

A capital campaign a few years after Sandy enabled the agency to install a generator, Love said.

Lunch Break already had served the community in many ways other than meals or as a food pantry, such as in its Life Skills programs.

But Love said the storm brought home how much it is a community resource.

And that came into play during the next major challenge faced by the entire country - the COVID pandemic.

The pandemic hit people economically as well as physically. People lost jobs and needed food, clothing and guidance in obtaining benefits and finding the few jobs that were available.

"Looking ahead, we're aware we must be ready and quick to respond to disasters," Love said.

She said she remembers all the partners Lunch Break worked with during the crisis that was Superstorm Sandy: The borough government and Monmouth County government helped in many ways, she said.

The county provided food, personal items such as toiletries, batteries and clothing. It enabled Lunch Break to share those supplies with other organizations, Love said.

Lunch Break now, in its latest capital campaign, is expanding its physical space to provide even more services, such as a larger food pantry and more privately accessible facilities for showers.

In 2023, Lunch Break will mark 40 years of service to the community.

With its current capital program, it will soon be able to bring its various services back under one roof in its walkable - and familiar - location in Red Bank.

"We need to know that, as a culture, we don't do it alone," Love said.