"Together, we formalized pathways for students to satisfy their community service and/or internship requirements by working in various capacities within the JBJ Soul Kitchen facility and operation," said HSS Assistant Principal and Business Academy leader Christopher Peck.
The non-profit community restaurant has a mission to serve those in need. With signature locations in Toms River and Red Bank, JBJ Soul Kitchen's latest venture is a new space inside OCL. What used to to be a Dunkin location will now be a JBJ cafe where people can receive a quick meal, snack, or coffee. The partnership with Toms River students isn't just about volunteerism— they're going to be playing a huge role in the management of the location.
Students will be doing the food prep, customer service, cleanup, and all the everyday tasks of running a restaurant. Academy students will also be the marketing arm behind the new location, and will use social media to promote it. Not only that, they'll be staffing the cafe, ordering, keeping track of inventory ... all of it.
"We are fortunate to have this opportunity and this partnership right alongside our own home here at South to help provide more robust programming for our students," said Peck. "We're also, of course, thrilled to be able to do our part in lending a helping hand to those in need."