Lunch Break

A huge thank-you to these three incredible students from Forrestdale School for donating an amazing 508 pounds of food to the Lunch Break Food Pantry! 🥫 🙏🏽

Your generosity will help provide nutritious food to local families in need. We are so grateful for your kindness, compassion and commitment to giving back to our community! 🙌

Thank you for making a difference! 🌟💙 Rumson School District

👔 SUIT UP FOR SUCCESS DONATIONS WANTED! 👔

Help local students dress for success! Lunch Break is partnering with Monmouth University Career Development for a Professional Clothing Donation Drive.

📅 Monday, September 21
⏰ 10 AM – 3 OM
📍 Rebecca Stafford Student Center, 1st Floor

Your gently used professional clothing can help someone feel confident and prepared for their next job interview or career opportunity. 👔 👗

This drive is being held in collaboration with Student Life and Alpha Xi Delta.

➡️ For more information, contact [email protected].

Please join us in welcoming Gladys Santiago, our new Intake & Program Coordinator! 🎉 🙌

Gladys brings a wonderful combination of experience, compassion and community-focused skills to Lunch Break. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has a strong background in administrative support, customer service and working with individuals and families. Her previous experience with the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties also gives her valuable insight into supporting our community and connecting guests with resources. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

In her new role, Gladys will help oversee guest intake while supporting programs and initiatives including Kids Cooking, community resource coordination and outreach. ☺️

A few fun facts about Gladys: She loves to travel, cook, bake, dance Salsa and partake in Contact Improvisation. She has even driven across the country twice!! 🚗 ✈️ 💃

Welcome to Lunch Break, Gladys! We’re so happy to have you! 💙

WEEK OF SEPT 14, 2026: Check out what we’re cooking this week!

LUNCH BREAK COMMUNITY KITCHEN WEEKLY MENU 🍽️

🥗 SALAD - MON - FRI 🥗

📅 MON., SEPT 14
🍗 ENTREE - ROAST CHICKEN WITH ONION GRAVY, MAC & CHEESE & VEG OF THE DAY

📅 TUES., SEPT 15
🌮 ENTREE - TACO TUESDAY WITH RICE & BEANS

📅 WED., SEPT 16
🐠 ENTREE - FISH NUGGETS WITH SEASONED POTATO WEDGES

📅 THURS., SEPT 17
🍝 ENTREE - ITALIAN BEEF PATTY WITH PASTA, GARLIC BREAD & VEG OF THE DAY

📅 FRI., SEPT 18
🥗 ENTREE - SALAD & COLD PASTA BAR

📅 SAT., SEPT 19
☕️ HOT BREAKFAST - 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
🥪 BAGGED LUNCH - 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

COMMUNITY DINING ROOM
📍 121 Drs. James Parker Blvd., Red Bank, NJ

📆 MONDAY TO FRIDAY 8:00 AM - 1:30 PM
🍳 BREAKFAST: 8:30 - 10:30 AM
🥗 LUNCH: 11 AM - 12:30 PM
🛍️ TO-GO MEALS: 12:30 - 1 PM (NO TO-GO MEALS BEFORE 12:30 PM)

📆 FRIDAY COMMUNITY DINNER: 6 - 8 PM
🍳 HOT BREAKFAST - 9:00 - 11:00 AM
🛍️ BAGGED LUNCH - 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Please Note: Doors open a half hour before breakfast service.

A big THANK YOU to the incredible team from DUAL Insurance! 🙌

We’re grateful for your time and dedication while volunteering in our Your Choice Pantry. Your teamwork and generosity helped make a meaningful difference for our guests, ensuring they could shop with dignity and care. 🛒 💙

Thank you for partnering with Lunch Break to strengthen our community! 🌟

"No day shall erase you from the memory of time." 💙 🇺🇸

Please join us in giving a warm Lunch Break welcome to Valerie Andrewlevich, our new Digital Literacy Specialist! 🙌

Val has joined our Life Skills team on a short-term basis to lead our Keeping Up with Computing Lab, helping our guests build the technology skills they need to navigate today’s digital world, from finding employment and accessing important resources to communicating, completing applications and managing the many things that now have to be done online. 💻

We’re so excited to have Val on board and to see how she helps our Life Skills team grow and strengthen our Digital Literacy Program! ✨

And now for a fun fact about Val and the adorable pup pictured! 🐾 🐶

Val and her husband have a heart for shelter dogs and adopt dogs in need. Lucy, pictured here, was found wandering the streets of Newark all by herself and was in need of medical care. Val and her husband adopted her in April and gave her the name Lucy. 💙

A big shout out to AHS Tinton Falls Shelter for helping Lucy find her way to a loving forever home! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Associated Humane Tinton Falls

Welcome to the Lunch Break family, Val, we’re so happy you’re here! ☺️

*This is a 3rd party fundraiser*

👟 SOLE RUNNER SNEAKER DRIVE 👟

Have gently used sneakers sitting in your closet? Give them a second life and help someone in our community!

SOLE Runner is a sneaker drive dedicated to collecting gently used sneakers and donating them to local people in need. Every pair makes a difference! 👟💚

✔️ Gently used sneakers — clean & in good condition
✔️ All sizes and styles
✔️ Running, walking, training & everyday shoes

📅 COLLECTION DATES
September 1 – November 30, 2026

DROP-OFF LOCATIONS:
📍 The Outpost
32 Church Street
Little Silver, NJ 07739

📍 Lunch Break
121 Drs. James Parker Blvd.
Red Bank, NJ 07701

This initiative was organized by a local RFH student and track team runner who is passionate about running and giving back to the community that supports them.

We are proud to celebrate a major milestone for Lunch Break’s Family Promise of Monmouth County, the purchase and opening of a two-family home in Long Branch! 🙌 🏡

This new Transitional Housing home will provide two families experiencing homelessness with a safe, stable place to call home, just in time for the new school year. More than housing, it offers families the opportunity to rebuild, strengthen their financial and personal well-being, and work toward permanent housing and greater independence. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Our ribbon-cutting celebration brought together staff, Board members, community leaders, supporters and friends who helped make this dream a reality. As we know, it takes a village, and this is what community looks like. ☺️

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped bring this home to life and excited for the families beginning this next chapter. Safety. Stability. Dignity. Hope.💙

Want to help? Community members can support the new residents by making a monetary donation designated for Family Promise of Monmouth County, helping families purchase the household items and personal necessities they need most.

Thank you to these two amazing children and their mother who delivered 10 birthday kits including cake mix, Sprite (the secret ingredient), frosting, birthday sprinkles and birthday candles. 🎂 🙌

The kits were so nicely wrapped with a ribbon and directions of how to make the cake! 🍰

Thank you for such a sweet treat! 💙