Press release from Lunch Break Inc.
Did you know that more food is consumed in the United States on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day of the year — including, believe it or not, Thanksgiving and Christmas? With a record number of individuals and families in our own neighborhoods throughout Monmouth and Ocean Counties needing assistance from Lunch Break, there’s never been more of a need to tackle hunger on our home field.
In a 2013 New Jersey Poverty Research Institute study, it was determined that more than two million people in the State of New Jersey struggle to meet their basic needs. That represents an increase of more than 300,000 since the beginning of the economic recession in 2008. Nationally, the poverty line is defined at about $23,000 for a family of four — and the study put New Jersey’s threshold at double that amount, because the cost of living in the Garden State is dramatically higher than the national average. Increasing numbers of local families continue to struggle with hunger every day. In fact, 85 percent of those who come to Lunch Break for help have at least one full-time job.
In 2014 Lunch Break served close to 70,000 meals, and nearly 1,000 families received monthly emergency provisions from their pantry. Lunch Break wants all their fans and generous supporters to know they can’t do what they do without your help. A meal at Lunch Break costs, on average, $2.84; to fill the soup pot for one day, that feeds approximately 100 people, costs $48; and it costs about $50 to provide those families emergency groceries. Your donations, big or small, make it possible for Lunch Break to continue their mission to provide services in an atmosphere of kindness, dignity and respect, always free of charge.
You can make this year’s Super Bowl SOUPER! by going to www.lunchbreak.org and clicking on the donate button. If you have any questions about Lunch Break’s Souper Bowl, please call Kate McMahon, Director of Development, at (732)747-8577, ext. 3103, or inquire by e-mail at [email protected].
