This is my first Go Fund Me and I’m setting it up to help me with my “One Man Charity” of distributing Free Lunches. As many of you know I worked for Nestle for almost 40 years in Freehold where there is an area downtown called The Freehold Center Bus Station. Buses pull in and out of this station in the morning going to all points local in Monmouth and Ocean County including Asbury Park, Lakewood, Howell, Toms River, and Sea Bright to name a few.

99% of the people boarding these buses are the “working poor” going to low paying and in some cases menial jobs. They’re busboys, house cleaners, aides, clerks, laborers, etc. Many of them are hardworking immigrants, much like our ancestors were. Along with these workers the Bus Station is an area of transients…the homeless, individuals recently let out of County Jail with their life’s possessions in a trash bag, and sadly some poor souls with mental illness.

For the past three years I have gone to the Bus Station every two weeks and handed out approximately 110 Free Lunches on each trip. Each lunch consists of a ham and cheese sandwich or a turkey and cheese sandwich on a roll, a bag of potato chips, a pack of cookies or cupcakes, a fruit snack, and their choice of a can of soda or a bottle of water. It usually takes only 90 minutes to give out all the lunches.

I have a food handlers license from the Borough of Freehold and the sandwiches are made at the Freehold Knights of Columbus, an establishment licensed and inspected to prepare food.

Everything I buy is either on sale or the lowest price I can find, and purchased in bulk. I use Amazon, Costco, Sams Club, Walmart, and Shop Rite for the best prices. Each lunch costs on average $3.45 which equates to approximately $760 per month.

Any monies collected through this Go Fund Me will not be used to offset my cost but rather allow me to make MORE LUNCHES every two weeks or GO MORE THAN TWICE A MONTH. All monies will go into a separate account opened at a different bank than my own, to be used specifically for the lunches,

Many out there today are struggling and for the ones at the bottom of the totem pole it’s even harder. The sheer joy on the face of the recipients to actually get a free lunch is priceless . Any donations will be appreciated and will go a long way in helping those in need.

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