A Need We Feed
Every town could use a Mike Jurusz, and not just because he runs a killer oceanfront restaurant called Chef Mike’s ABG in Seaside Park, N.J. Jurusz gives back. In fact, the only activity he likes as much or more than running his 29-foot Baja called Kookin’ is helping people in need, and that means committing to more than 60 benefits a year.
When it comes to serving his Garden State community, performance-boat-loving chef Mike Jurusz (right, with A Need We Feed co-founder Cliff Baker) never stops cooking—and last weekend was no exception. Photos courtesy/copyright Tim Sharkey/Sharkey Images.
Last Saturday, Jurusz prepared and contributed some of the food for the eighth annual Arcuri For SUDS—an acronym for Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba—charity fundraiser in Brick, N.J. The following day on the beach in front of his restaurant, he ran his own annual fundraiser for A Need We Feed, a charity he founded with his friend and restaurant supplies vendor Cliff Baker in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
What began back then as an operation to feed first-responders stranded on the New Jersey Shore barrier island Jurusz calls home, A Need We Feed has become a significant charity that produces and delivers hot meals for up to 1,500 veterans and the homeless people in the area four times a year. More than 500 people attended Sunday’s fundraiser, which raised approximately $15,000 for the cause and was held under three tents on strand.
Volunteers are the foundation of A Need We Feed.
and then