I wanted to share this upcoming fundraiser with all of my readers. A food forum that I am a member of, the Hungry Onion, is staging a benefit dinner on Thursday, June 27th at the JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank. While as of right now I will not be able to make it, this event is open to anyone and everyone, not just members of the forum. We are hoping for as large a crowd as possible, as more participants means more money raised for the foundation which provides healthy food to people in need. Below is the press release:
FIRST “FOOD(IES) FOR THOUGHT” DINNER
TO BENEFIT JBJ SOUL KITCHEN
(Monmouth County, NJ) – Local members of one of the last remaining grassroots, world-wide online food discussion sites, HungryOnion.org, have organized their first Food(ies) For Thought charity dinner at JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank. A 3-course meal will be served on Thursday, June 27th at 7pm and as per Soul Kitchen’s mission, the food is free; the $50 per person donation will go directly to Soul Kitchen’s mission of community dining with dignity.
Hungry Onion is a global website with state-specific and topic-specific boards, and membership is free. Content is generated by those who register and post on the site, and the New Jersey section is one of the most active in the world. Monmouth County in particular is extremely well-represented on the NJ board, as is evidenced by the discussions of local restaurants, chefs, favorite markets to source ingredients, and an ongoing debate about the best pizza in the state.
David Eisenstein, one of the volunteer moderators of the NJ board, said, “These local foodies wanted to help battle hunger in Monmouth County. Who better to turn to than The Bon Jovi Foundation’s Soul Kitchen in Red Bank? We’re a fun group with a common love of good food and have done many events in area restaurants where 10-12 people turn out with little planning, so this is an opportunity to meet more of our members ‘in real life,’ do some good in our community, and hopefully find some other foodies who aren’t familiar with Hungry Onion yet. While the majority of the attendees are from Monmouth County, some of the diners will join us from northern NJ, and there are also a few coming from New York to help this wonderful cause. At a minimum, we’ll have twenty attendees and as a group, that means we’ll donate $1,000 to the foundation. We want this good work to continue and to do that, we encourage others to join us.”
JBJ Soul Kitchen is a non-profit Community Restaurant, run by the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation that serves paying and in-need customers. Their website states “There are no prices on our menu. If you are unable to pay the suggested donation, you may still enjoy a delicious meal. We invite you to join our community to learn about resources and volunteer opportunities at the Soul Kitchen. For those who are unable to make a donation for their meal, we invite you to come in, enjoy a meal and learn how you can be part of the JBJ Soul Kitchen community by volunteering. We encourage our customers to effect change by making a suggested donation of $20 for their meal. Soul Kitchen offers a Pay It Forward Program where each additional $20 donation provides meals for those who are unable to donate.”
The Hungry Historian 