Holiday Crush at Lunch Break

There’s a narrow path from the door to the desk in Gwen Love’s office at , a space carved out of a heap of plastic bags full of donated toys and clothing. It’s just wide enough to walk through as you enter from another crowded room that’s simultaneously serving as a soup kitchen, donation drop off, volunteer sign up, and social outreach office.

It’s holiday season at Lunch Break. At this time of the year even the executive director’s office needs to serve as a storage facility for a building that regularly seems on the verge of splitting at the seams and spilling into the streets.

The goal Lunch Break has always been to help those in need. As it’s grown over the last 28 years the organization has found that success isn’t just measured in the number of people it’s helped, but in the increased demand from an ever-growing number of people who turn to Lunch Break, each at a time in their lives when they need it most.

Never is that demand greater than during the holidays.

“We’re in that season of giving, and that’s great, because that’s exactly what we need right now,” Love said, taking a moment recently from the steady stream of phone calls and deliveries coming in to Lunch Break. “November and December are the months we really depend on donations. And, that’s primarily because that’s what we expect.”

On Thanksgiving Day, Lunch Break, with the help of volunteers and a local catering outfit, will serve between 200 and 250 meals to area residents. That’s in addition to the hundreds of meals being delivered to seniors and the homebound throughout the area, and the hundreds of care packages, complete with a turkey and all the trimmings, distributed to needy families prior to the holiday.

The number of diners for Lunch Break’s Thanksgiving Day meal has grown over the years, a result, Love believes, of not only the soup kitchen’s efforts to expand its offerings, but also because of the economic struggles facing other area food pantries that have wilted due to high demand and falling donations.

It used to be that only neighborhood residents, those within a short walking distance, would come for food, Love said, but now she said she’s seen residents coming from all over as their local pantries, soup kitchens, and churches have either curbed their offerings or, in some cases, shut down completely.

As Lunch Break has grown to accommodate more people, so too has it grown to provide more offerings to those in need.

“Lunch Break’s desire is to create more opportunities for those who need them most,” Love said. “It’s grown, from the services we’ve always had – the soup kitchen, the pantry, clothing – to a place where people can take music lessons, where kids can learn to cook. It’s become more of a community center than anything to a point that (Lunch Break) is the place where people come together.”

As much as Lunch Break hopes to expand its services and grow, it’s still very much beholden to the community at large that supports it, a fact that’s never lost on Love and the rest of the organization’s staff. But, there’s going to come a time when the need continues to grow that the donations won’t be able to keep up, and though the community has been generous, Love worries about what that could mean.

It’s not just the difficult economy that’s putting a strain on donors and volunteers but time constraints as well, Love said. With people living lives that are becoming increasingly busier, Love said it’s often difficult for many to just find the time.

When demand rises and help stagnates, that’s what Love fears.

Each year Lunch Break has a Christmas family adoption, which allows people or businesses to pick needy families and provide them with Christmas gifts. When Lunch Break sent word out that it was offering the program again this year, the response was overwhelming. Though a cap of 300 families was set, Love said Lunch Break received applications from more than 330 and was forced to stop accepting applications a week before the deadline.

There’s a real concern that Lunch Break won’t be able to adopt out every family it’s accepted this year, too. Still, Love is confident that Lunch Break’s partnerships and positive community response will help fill the void.

"We’re all about community," Love said. "Lunch Break was founded by 30 some people 28 years ago and over the years it's been the community that has really sustained us. We partner with so many organizations. It’s something the entire community has really embraced."

Love said it’s the community's help that keeps Lunch Break in operation, providing food to the area's needy. Food and clothing donations are welcomed at the center, though monetary donations are especially useful. Lunch Break is also looking for those interested in adopting families for Christmas. If you’re interested in helping, visit the Lunch Break website or call (732) 747-8577.