By: Cathy Padilla | February 1, 2022 | , Philanthropy | Red Bank
FEATURED PHOTO: Gwendolyn Love of Lunch Break | CREDIT: Carmela Caracappa
Upon meeting Gwendolyn Love the appropriateness of her last name may be the first thing noted.
Exuding kindness and warmth, she is referred to by many as an angel. Yet the woman who leads Lunch Break, the non-profit located in Red Bank that provides food, clothing, life skills, and fellowship to those in need in Monmouth County and beyond, has a core of strength and a belief system instilled in her by a mother who raised her children out of poverty.
Gwen is only the second Executive Director in Lunch Break’s 39-year history, following in the footsteps of Norma Todd who founded the charity in 1983 and was at the helm for its first 25 years. Ms. Todd, as Gwen refers to her, was known as the Mother Teresa of Red Bank and left arguably enormous shoes to fill. Gwen shared that in her first few years at Lunch Break she was told stories of Ms. Todd’s good deeds on a daily basis. Rather than try to replace Ms. Todd, Gwen has instead embraced her legacy. She has taken the faith, tenacity, and willingness to work hard she learned from her mother, joined it with Ms. Todd’s dedication to ending hunger and underemployment, and now does the work of both.
“Ms. Todd left a legacy of love,” said Gwen. “Love is what I’m about as well. I’m a partner in the walk she started.”
When looking at all that Gwen has accomplished, gathering together the long list of her awards and honors, what stands out the most is her heartfelt desire to help others reach their potential and her unending gratitude.
“I’m the daughter of a mother who raised seven children,” explained Gwen. “I never met my father. My mother struggled her way out of the system and worked really hard. At the age of 60 she reached her life-long dream and bought a home. She died two years later. My mother had a hard life, but she wanted better for her children. My siblings and I grew up in public housing, yet we all have jobs, we’re healthy, we own our own homes, we have families. Our mother taught us that you have to work hard and that you have to be grateful.”
PHOTO: Gwen with Lunch Break employee, Wally. Wally was homeless and reluctant to take help from the charity. The Maintenance Supervisor befriended him and Wally started helping with the garden and grounds. When the supervisor retired, Gwen offered Wally his job. | CREDIT: Carmela Caracappa
Gwen has expanded on her mother’s goal of wanting better for her children and is now helping to make the dream of leaving poverty behind a reality for many. One example is the success story of one Lunch Break employee, Wally. Wally was homeless and reluctant to take help from the charity. The Maintenance Supervisor befriended him and Wally started helping with the garden and grounds. When the supervisor retired, Gwen offered Wally his job.
“Everybody in town knows and loves Wally,” said Gwen. “He always talks to the young men who come in who are untrusting or scared. He shares how he thought there was something wrong with all of us when he first met us, we were too happy and nice. Wally is a great success story. He had a few negative turns early on in life, but he turned things around. He got married, he has a job, and he has a home. We’re blessed to have Wally.”
Gwen considers her own marriage a great success story and a reminder of how blessed she has been personally. She married the love of her life, Milton Love, Sr., when she was 18. They would have been married 47 years this year, raised four children together, share seven grandchildren, and created a wonderful family life in Howell where she has lived for 30 years. She lost Milton to cancer in 2015.
“We both came from nothing,” said Gwen of her childhood and Milton’s. “We are our own success story. We somehow made it through. We could have easily been another poverty statistic. But I am truly blessed. My mom most definitely has been a great influence in my life. My work is her heart. She had a heart for people and no patience for the words ‘no’ or ‘I can’t.’ She always found a way to help and didn’t make time for those who got in her way. She was a fighter for good. My mom also gave me a strong spiritual foundation which has lasted a lifetime. Also, my late husband was my cheerleader in my career and in everything I ever wanted to do and he always had my back. He always believed in me more than I believed in myself. God has ordered my steps and led me to Lunch Break.”
One of the professional accomplishments of which Gwen is most proud is the Lunch Break Life Skills Center in Shrewsbury. The Life Skills Program provides skills training and resume writing, ESL, and financial coaching to equip participants with the necessary tools to make them more marketable for employment.
“Working with the Board of Trustees and staff and Habitat for Humanity volunteers to develop that project from a vision to reality was, and is, an amazing achievement,” said Gwen. “It was gratifying to know the Life Skills Center would provide the necessary skills and support to elevate people from the dire circumstances and challenges that hold them back. Knowing we could provide life-changing opportunities and Lunch Break would be able to not only give help for today, but hope and the tools for tomorrow, was a very emotional experience for me and the grand opening was a culmination of all those feelings and I’ll never forget it. It was also a game changer for Lunch Break because our mission now strongly focuses on empowerment and self-sufficiency for those we serve.”
Constantly growing and evolving, Lunch Break expanded again this January by merging Family Promise of Monmouth County into its programs.
PHOTO: Sharon Smith (Lunch Break staff), Jill Austin, Lunch Break Executive Director Gwendolyn Love, Sue O’Brien | CREDIT: Carmela Caracappa
“We are now one agency and that’s a huge deal!” shared Gwen. “We’re very excited for the possibilities of working as one for the benefit of families with children in crisis due to lack of housing. The immediate goal for this initiative is to develop a facility to house the families while they are working on their life skills, helping them save money, repairing credit, etc., and assisting them with obtaining permanent housing. We are also going to expand our Red Bank facility to accommodate future growth of programs and relocate the Life Skills Center within the expansion. We’ve recently launched a $12 million Capital Campaign to finance the expansion.”
With a huge goal in front of them, Gwen and her staff continue to focus on the daily needs of those they serve while adapting to the challenges of the times.
“Staying the same is not an option because an agency whose mission is rooted in helping the most vulnerable has to be nimble and bend with the needs of the people,” said Gwen. “Having the weight on your shoulders of knowing so many people are counting on you in the midst of a challenge and also looking out for their needs as well, keeps us on track. Teamwork is the best work. And it really is true that it’s not necessary to be the smartest person in the room, in fact, there’s a lot less pressure when you’re okay with that and know and trust you have smart people around you who will help get the work done. So having board and committee members, volunteers and staff that are both smart and passionate for the mission is a really good thing!”
When asked what she most wants people to know about her, her achievements, or Lunch Break, Gwen takes the spotlight off herself.
“There are many hands at work that make the Lunch Break engine effective and relevant in the lives of those we serve,” she said. “I really want to acknowledge my Board of Trustee members, both current and past, who have worked by my side through the years to bring about much change in the organization and have supported each new idea. The staff, both current and past, each of whom have their hearts into this mission and work tirelessly for the benefit of the families and individuals we serve. Also, the volunteers who are really amazing angels. They ask for nothing but the opportunity to serve and they do so with dedication and passion. If not for our donors who support and encourage our vision, we would still be serving meals in the basement of a church. Like one of my donors says, ‘Go Big or Go Home!’”
PHOTO: Alvina Sharpe, Lynn Baker, Lunch Break Executive Director Gwendolyn Love, Culinary Service Coordinator David Neal Jones, Laurie Singer, Leslie Strollman, Grace LaFata | CREDIT: Carmela Caracappa
In New Jersey alone, 865,900 people, including 260,340 children, are food insecure, according to a 2021 Feeding America and Hunger Free New Jersey report. That means 1 in 10 individuals (9.6 percent) and 1 in 8 children (13.2 percent) live in homes without consistent access to adequate food.
Across Monmouth County, the rate of hunger among seniors has more than doubled since 2001, according to the National Council on Aging, a rate that is expected to increase as Baby Boomers age. About 10 percent of New Jersey’s older residents, some 190,000 seniors, were at risk of hunger in 2017 and these numbers are rising quickly.
In 2021, Lunch Break continued to see an unprecedented demand for groceries in the wake of the pandemic.
Services January – November 2021:
|
|
Gwen Love’s Honors & Awards
2008: Honored by the Midtown Urban Renaissance Corp.
2009: named one of “Monmouth County’s Mothers Who Make a Difference”
2010: Honorary Degree from Brookdale Community College; Community Peace Award from the Macedonia Family Life Community Complex in Lakewood; the President’s Award from the Red Bank NAACP; the Outstanding Humanitarian Award from the National Council of Negro Women, Inc.
2011: Humanitarian Award from Church Women United2012: “Woman of Distinction” Award from the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore
2013: Hall of Service Award by the Seacoast Ministers’ Wives & Ministers’ Widows; Service Award by the Mary Hightower Council of I.B.P.O.E. of W
2016: Community Service Award by the Monmouth County Workforce Development Board
2021: MLK Human Dignity Award by the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County
See this story in print!
|