B.E.A.T. Center: Five Years Of Turning Lives Around

The B.E.A.T. Center in Toms River is celebrating five years of operation in providing delicious meals to those in need. (Photo courtesy The B.E.A.T Center)

By Chris Lundy and Bob Vosseller

  TOMS RIVER – It’s been five years, and it’s been a good start.

  Partners of The B.E.A.T. Center recently celebrated their fifth anniversary as a hub for community services.

  B.E.A.T. stands for Bringing Everyone All Together, and it’s a fitting title. It’s a collaboration between Fulfill, the People’s Pantry (which is now run by Fulfill), and JBJ Soul Kitchen.

  Singer and JBJ Foundation Chairman Jon Bon Jovi said, “when we conceptualized The B.E.A.T. Center at our kitchen table, we could never have imagined the impact it would have on the community.”

  “We look forward to continuing our mission to serve those in need with dignity and respect,” Bon Jovi added. The B.E.A.T. Center was founded in 2016 on Hooper Avenue in Toms River.

  During its first year, the partners projected the center would serve families in need with $5 million in food, job training, and other support services, with $5 million more each additional year. The B.E.A.T. Center exceeded all projections.

  Within five years, the partners provided food and services valued at more than $30 million by serving nearly 10 million meals to their community and $7.7 million in benefits and other social services.

  During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the JBJ Soul Kitchen provided more than 4,600 grab-and-go meals serving only those in need and 1,000 more meals delivered and served to community partners.

  Between Fulfill’s food distribution center, JBJ Soul Kitchen and Fulfill’s People’s Pantry, more than half a million meals were distributed from The B.E.A.T. Center to the community during the height of the pandemic.

More Than Food

  The B.E.A.T. is a one-stop shop, said Linda Kellner, interim co-CEO and Director of Development for Fulfill.

  The food at the People’s Pantry or the Soul Kitchen satisfies an immediate need. But while they are there, they can avail themselves of long-term help. They can sign up for food stamps, for example. There are staff who show them how to get affordable health insurance or do their taxes for no cost so they get the refunds they’re entitled to.

  They work to stop the causes of hunger so that people can be self-sufficient.

  For example, the culinary training center has graduated 103 people who have found steady employment and a living wage.

  “B.E.A.T. gave us a physical footprint in Ocean County,” she said. It was important to have a location for all the various groups to operate out of. The synergy of them working together can help the whole person instead of just one aspect of someone’s life.

  The building was also a distribution point for the crisis boxes. Each one can provide a family of four with enough food to last four days. These went to individuals and also to area nonprofits, senior centers, schools, veteran organizations, municipalities, and pantries throughout Ocean County.

  “The impacts of the pandemic will last beyond the virus itself,” she said.

  A lot of families lost one or more sources of income, she said. Restaurants, school districts and more have been laying off staff. People have had to leave their health care jobs because they or someone in their household has medical issues that would be serious if they got COVID.

  Before the pandemic, they were servicing 200 households a week. Now, it is more than 900.

  “Hunger has no face. It could be me. It could be you,” she said.

  We need to get rid of the stigma against people in need, she said. This stigma has done such harm. People don’t want to give help because of this. The poor are looked down upon or forgotten.

  People are also too embarrassed to ask for help because of the stigma. Something like food stamps help because the only person who sees them is the cashier. Families can shop for what they want or need, and it gives them a feeling of choice.

Fulfill volunteers load up a car with boxes of food as part of the partnership between the B.E.A.T. Center Fulfill, JBJ Soul Kitchen, and Fulfill’s People’s Pantry. (Photo courtesy Fulfill’s People’s Pantry)

  “Fulfill works very, very hard to help people get things they need in a dignified way,” she said.

  Currently, the organization is feeding 215,000 people, including 70,000 children. Fulfill has served 3.5 million more meals since the coronavirus crisis affected the Jersey Shore.

  These 215,000 people are split evenly between Ocean and Monmouth counties. These counties have a total population of about 1,200,000 (600,000 each). So that means roughly one in six people are in need in Ocean and Monmouth.

  The Fulfill FoodBank, formerly known as The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties was feeding 136,000 people prior to the pandemic including 50,000 children.

  Fulfill Board Chair Lauren Holman said Fulfill has been in operation for more than 30 years.

  “We were there to provide food and comfort during economic storms, Superstorm Sandy, and now the pandemic,” Holman said.

  “During the current coronavirus crisis, the demand for food has grown 40%. We expect the demand to grow as more businesses close and families exhaust their savings. Fulfill feeds children, seniors, veterans, and the working poor,” she added.

   Fulfill serves pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens, provides hot meals for children after school, and sends food home for those same children over the weekend.

  The organization has earned a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for more than ten consecutive years. This distinction means Fulfill, a 501 (c)3 charitable organization, outperformed most charities in America in areas of efficiency, fiscal integrity, and effectiveness. Holman added, “95 cents of every dollar donated to Fulfill goes directly to feeding the hungry in our community.”

How To Help

  If you are interested in helping, these groups are always looking for volunteers and donations.

  Visit their websites like FulfillNJ.org or jbjsoulkitchen.org to learn how to help. Some volunteers hand out food, answer phones, work the Monmouth County garden, or provide free professional services or coaching.

Need Help?

  If you are in need of assistance, you can visit the B.E.A.T. center during their normal operating hours, found online at the above websites.

  Fulfill operates a list of known food pantries and soup kitchens in the area. You can just text Find Food to 888-918-2729.