This Thanksgiving, The Joy Bus founder chief executive officer Jennifer Caraway has more to be thankful for than ever.
That is because the nonprofit, which was founded by Caraway in 2011 as a means to provide cancer patients with healthy meal deliveries, will soon move into a new 6,700-square-foot space that will give the organization the ability to make up to 2,500 home visits per week to local cancer patients by 2026.
Getting Started
Arizona native Caraway has been involved in the restaurant scene since she was a teenager, something that continued during her time attending Northern Arizona University in the early 1990s.
“From 1991 to 2003, I traveled across Arizona, Oregon, Mexico, and even Spain both working in and then eventually owning restaurants,” said Caraway, who moved back to the Valley in 2003, where she reconnected with a long-time friend – Joy – who was battling ovarian cancer.
Caraway found the best way to get in a quick visit was by making food and bringing it to Joy.
“When heading to Joy’s one day, I got to thinking about all of the cancer patients who did not have a support system, and I was motivated to action,” said Caraway, who contacted a case manager and asked her to refer patients who needed healthy meal delivery services, which Caraway personally provided.
By 2011, the program was growing quickly, so much so that Caraway formally incorporated The Joy Bus as a 501c3 nonprofit with a vision to turn her project of passion into a viable option for cancer patients across the Valley.
“We lost Joy in early 2012, so she never got to see the vision come to fruition, but we feel her in everything we do,” said Caraway.
And The Joy Bus does a lot.
Over the past decade-plus, Caraway has grown the program from dream to reality, easing the burden of those battling cancer by providing healthy meals specified to meet patients’ needs, delivered by volunteers who are often cancer survivors themselves. In 2015, the organization made national news when it was able to secure a commercial kitchen and open The Joy Bus Diner.
“In addition to traditional fundraising, we support The Joy Bus through this diner, which is open several days a week for breakfast and lunch,” said Caraway. “One hundred percent of proceeds from The Joy Bus Diner support our meal delivery efforts.”
What’s Next
Thanks to support from Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, Goodman’s Furniture, HKS Architects, and others, The Joy Bus and The Joy Bus Diner should be moving to their new home by year’s end.
“The space will – of course – offer a larger diner, but also at full buildout an organic food pantry available free of charge to all cancer patients in Maricopa County; culinary program providing training, certification, and job placement to young adults who have been personally affected by cancer; and a teaching kitchen for cancer patients and their support systems,” said Caraway.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Caraway will also release a charity cookbook in 2025.
For more information, visit TheJoyBusDiner.com.
Caraway has grown the program from dream to reality, easing the burden of those battling cancer by providing healthy meals specified to meet patients’ needs, delivered by volunteers who are often cancer survivors themselves.