Howard Leipzig (l), his wife Karen Leipzig and their dog Missy, of Dogs on the Farm doggie day care in Middletown, deliver donated pet food to Lunch Break in Red Bank on Dec. 21. ERIC SUCAR staff Despite being down nearly 50 percent in monetary donations this year, Lunch Break in Red Bank is looking to become so much more than a soup kitchen in 2012 with the help of some recent donations, including two houses and a van. “The monetary donations have been a little slow coming, and we haven’t met the numbers that we’re looking for at this time of year. Funds are slowly coming in,” said Gwendolyn Love, executive director of Lunch Break

“It’s not over yet,” she added

“A lot of people want to help, they want to do something. They don’t think about how to do it until they hear someone else has done this or that, and then it really sparks a whole movement. So we’re hoping that does happen.”

Lunch Break Pantry Supervisor Peg Rizzo (center) helps Howard Leipzig, of Dogs on the Farm, unload pet food donated to the Red Bank soup kitchen and food pantry through a drive sponsored by the Middletown doggie day care facility. ERIC SUCAR staff The community continues to step up in a big way for the grassroots soup kitchen that serves the greater Red Bank area.

“We just had two houses donated next door. It’s going to take money to renovate those houses, and it’s going to take money for the upkeep of the houses. We planned some really good uses for the community for those homes,” said Love.

The two houses, located right next door to the Lunch Break facility on Drs. James Parker Boulevard, were donated by Rumson residents Justin and Victoria Gmelich and will help the organization expand their services.

“We’re going to have our clothing house there, and we’ll have extended hours throughout the week. Individuals and families can come in and pick out clothing and households items. The other house we’re going to be using for administrative and social services. It doesn’t get any better than that,” said Love.

The executive director said the organization plans to open the homes by the beginning of summer.

Additionally, on Dec. 22, New Jersey Natural Gas donated a van to assist in food deliveries as well as transportation for those attending job interviews in the community.

Founded more than 28 years ago, the organization was powered by the driving force of director Norma Todd before she passed away in 2008. Since then, Love has taken the reins.

“We’re a blessed organization, and as always over the years, from the time Ms. Todd and the group she worked very hard with, it was always grassroots. It was always the community helping, and that still exists today, that same type of community coming together,” said Love.

On Dec. 19 Troy Container Ltd., Red Bank, donated 2,000 hot meals to Lunch Break, which serves about 125 people every day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the winter months.

Love said the generous donation would enable Lunch Break to buy the food necessary to feed those who come to the soup kitchen.

“What a blessing and what a generous, generous donation. They’ve donated before, and what they’re doing, too, is within their company they’re reaching out to their vendors, people they actually work with, and asking them to donate to a charity to some way pay it forward,” Love explained.

The Red Bank shipping company is one of the largest American-owned NVOCCs (non-vessel operating common carrier). The donation will be in the name of Troy’s clients, vendors and friends.

“After experiencing an increase in demand during the last year, every contribution to Lunch Break is incredibly valuable to the organization and the community it serves,” said Michael Troy, founder and CEO of the company.

Lunch Break even received a pet food donation from the Bayshore Middle School on Dec. 21.

“That’s good, that’s great. We have a lot of people who are very concerned about their pets and they’re having a hard time themselves taking care of them. You hate to think that the little animals who depend on us to take care of them, that we can’t fulfill that obligation,” she said. The pet food donation drive was initiated by Dogs on the Farm doggie day care in Middletown, which delivered the pet supplied to Lunch Break.

TheAdopt-a-Family program has been a huge success this holiday season, the best in three years, said Love. With a boost from holiday donations, Lunch Break is looking to ride that wave into the New Year.

Love said one of the goals of the organization is to become social media savvy and create more of a presence both online and in the local media. They are currently working with a marketing group in Red Bank to revamp the website.

“I know that there’s a generation out there that’s really big on the social media, so we really have to focus and concentrate on that. But we’re also going to continue to reach out even more so to our local media for exposure,” she said.

“We’re partnering more and we’re doing more on our own in terms of fundraising. The next step, too, for next year is we know we need to start writing and seeking and researching more foundation type grants.”

A new food committee has also been created to help generate a steady flow of food donations from local schools, churches and organizations. Love said the summertime and early fall are the most scarce months for the food pantry.

“We need to be more aggressive in reaching out to corporations, reaching out to schools, reaching out to faith-based organizations, the Boy Scouts and other civic groups, and asking them to run a food drive. And not only will you run a food drive, but will you commit to running a food drive every year at this particular time of year so that we’ll have a stream of food coming in,” she said.

Love said the proactive approach to operations planned for 2012 is a result of the significant increase in demand for services over the past three years. What used to be about 60 people accessing their food pantry per month has turned into 500 families.

“When you tack that on to how many people are in each household, it’s a lot. It’s dramatic. The other really dramatic increase we’ve seen is people accessing the clothing. We have the ‘Dress for Success’ program, and within the last year and a half that has really taken off,” she said.

There was no way for Lunch Break to have planned for the sudden increase in demand, and the nonprofit will plan accordingly for the future.

“That’s why we’re constantly out there more and more trying to get the word out. It’s why we do need to get more involved in social and local media. We need to let people know that in order for us to continue services for the people we’re servicing, especially since the numbers have increased, we have to continue to have the help,” explained Love.