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The Joy Bus Community

VIBRANT NONPROFIT TAKES A TEMPORARY DETOUR WHILE EXPANDING ITS PROGRAMS AND INTRODUCING A NEW COOKBOOK

Since 2011, The Joy Bus has been serving fresh and healthy meals to those who are homebound and battling cancer. In 2016, its mobile meals service expanded to include The Joy Bus Diner, a nonprofit restaurant in Northeast Phoenix. But when COVID-19 hit, the nonprofit on which so many people depend was faced with hard decisions, and its founder Jennifer Caraway tackled them with a head on approach.

Making home deliveries of fresh healthy food is Caraway’s passion, and she was equal to the task of making changes during the pandemic. Caraway explains, “We have been fortunate enough to surround ourselves with smart humans who have counseled us on how to service our homebound clients in the safest manner possible.” Although the one-on-one hugs and interactions with their clients are not what they once were, she gets creative in making sure everyone feels cared for and loved. Tito’s Vodka has also given generous donations of hand sanitizer that have been put to constant use and also distributed to The Joy Bus clients and their caregivers.

Although The Joy Bus Diner was forced to close due to COVID-19, its outreach continue to flourish. Caraway explains, “We still cannot open the diner to the public due to COVID restrictions. The closure severely impacts our ability to service our patients as the diner revenue helps support our programs, which have actually grown during the pandemic.”

However, some special families have pitched in to pay the current diner facilities rent for the entirety of 2021. The Fine and The Hall families continue to support The Joy Bus mission through there welcome donations. “It truly gives us one less thing to worry about when the list of worries is already overwhelming,” says Caraway. “Some of our significant supporters in 2020 kept us afloat, like The Robert D. Fisher Foundation, BHHS Legacy Fund, Cowin Charitable Fund, The Colvert Fund and Teal It Up Foundation.”

One exciting addition to the The Joy Bus “family” is Four Peaks Brewing Company. After doing an extensive search, Caraway found Four Peaks and the brewery has since created two beers – The Joy Bus RAD IPA and The Joy Bus WOW Wheat Ale. Proceeds from those beers are also donated to the nonprofit’s mission. The beers can be found at www.fourpeaks.com.

Throughout the highs and lows, Caraway and The Joy Bus are always focused on providing healthy meals for those they serve and are able to utilize foods from local farms, too. “We are very fortunate to partner with Crooked Sky Farms that continues to provide us with the most beautiful naturally grown produce,” says Caraway. “We recently have partnered with Happy Eggs who generously donates the best eggs I have ever tasted. The yolk is deep orange and so tasty. We continue to educate our clients on the benefits of healing foods by including a menu with each delivery highlighting specific ingredients and their healing properties.”

Other opportunities have presented themselves, too. The Joy Bus now has a wider reach due to the addition of two new partners. Caraway explains, “We recently partnered with Copper Hills Church and Phoenix Cancer Support Network to service clients in their area. It is awesome to partner with like-minded organizations that want to make a difference in their community. We are grateful for their partnership.”

Caraway also decided it was time to pursue a project three years in the making. She published a collaborative cookbook called, “More Than a Meal – The Joy Bus Community of Chefs,” showcasing recipes from some of the finest chefs across the Valley.

“Our mission when we first started venturing on this journey three years ago was to highlight the work of the Phoenix chefs,” says Caraway. “Many people don’t know this, but we work with so many amazing, rad, chefs. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to have the awesome community that is The Joy Bus.”

“More Than a Meal – The Joy Bus Community of Chefs” features recipes from well-known chefs from around the Valley, many of whom have helped Caraway in one delicious way or another since she founded The Joy Bus. Some of the many recipes in the book are contributed from Charleen Badman of FnB, Tracy Dempsey of TDOriginals, Clint Woods of Fox Restaurant Concepts, Tuan “Butch” Raphael of AZPops, Danielle Leoni of The Breadfruit & Rum Bar, Michael Rusconi of Rusconi’s American Kitchen, Stephen Johns of the larder + the delta, Josh Herbert of Hot Noodles Cold Sake, Gio Osso of Virtu, Bernie Kantak of The Gladly and Russell LaCasce of ZuZu.

The colorful cookbook also includes exciting and unique recipes from The Joy Bus Diner and its volunteers. Plus, readers get to delve into the history of The Joy Bus and learn more about its contributing chefs via fun Q&A’s. As an extra “feel good” element, all proceeds from the sale of the cookbook go directly toward The Joy Bus and its mission of helping homebound cancer patients with chef-inspired meals, a friendly face and words of encouragement.

Caraway and her devoted volunteers are currently working on plans to reach event more people in need of meal services. “While we have grown over the pandemic, there is a huge need for our services in areas that we do not currently service. The plan we are working on will reach out to those areas and touch as many homebound clients as we can,” she says.

“We are hopeful that a day will come when our services are no longer needed, but until then we will continue to do our best to help those in need with beautifully nutritious and delicious food,” Caraway finishes. Those wishing to support the mission or purchase the new “More than a Meal” cookbook can visit www.TheJoyBus.charity

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