We’re holding all food & beverage workers close this holiday season. As our teams take a short, well-deserved pause, here are a few important reminders:

Emergency Relief Fund: Applications will be paused from December 17, 2025, to January 4, 2026. Please apply before the application closes on December 16 at 5 PM CT. If you have an ongoing case, you can continue working with your case manager. Please reach out to them with any concerns about closures and deadlines.

Behind You Mental Health Program: Applications remain open, and services will be available in January. The earlier you apply, the quicker we can determine eligibility, and you can be ready for when services commence.

Texas Hill Country Floods: Applications close 12/16.

Joanne Canady-Brown

Joanne Canady-Brown is the owner and head baker of The Gingered Peach, a nationally recognized bakery and New Jersey foodie destination located in Lawrenceville, NJ. After graduating from Rutgers University with a BA in economics, she began working on her MBA there in 2010. However, her passion for baking led her to leave her studies to open The Gingered Peach.

In 2018, Joanne was honored with a fellowship from the James Beard Foundation’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership program, recognizing her as one of twenty accomplished women in the culinary field. In 2019, Baked from Scratch magazine included Joanne in their “Baker’s Dozen,” a list highlighting today’s top trailblazers in the baking industry.

Recently, Joanne expanded her culinary ventures to include ice cream with the opening of Melba Ice Creamery, a handcrafted ice cream shop. She also ventured into coffee roasting by acquiring Rojo’s roastery in Palmer Square Princeton, where she is guiding it into its next chapter.

Beyond her businesses, Joanne is a dedicated social activist, raising awareness for food insecurity, economic inequity, and the crucial need for job development programs within the culinary industry. In her free time, she enjoys spending quality time with her husband Matt, their two children Zoe and Greyson, and their dog Link.

Generously supported by Stone Garden Group