Location Overview

In 1986, Jean Webster saw a homeless man going through a dumpster to find food. She took him to a nearby fast-food restaurant and bought him a meal. Then she invited him to come to her home for dinner the next day if he had nothing to eat. She said she felt called by God to do this and out of this experience she began a mission feeding hungry people in Atlantic City, making it known that there would be food for anyone who needed a meal at her home. Word spread quickly in the city, and before long she was providing meals for more than 100 guests two meals per day when she wasn’t working at her full-time job as a chef at the Taj Mahal Casino. At first, she used her own funds to purchase food, but as her work received more and more attention donations were made from various sources to continue the work of the woman called “Sister Jean” and known as “The Mother Teresa of Jersey.”

As the number of people being served grew, it was no longer possible to continue providing meals from her home, and in 1997 she moved operations to Victory First Presbyterian Deliverance Church on Pennsylvania Avenue in Atlantic City. At that site, she was able to accommodate many more guests, and with the assistance of a core of volunteers she served over 400 people per day. She continued her remarkable mission until her death in 2011 at the age of 76.

A non-profit corporation was formed to continue her work, called Friends of Jean Webster, Inc. Its director was The Rev. John Scotland, who was pastor of the Brigantine Community Presbyterian Church. In 2017 with help from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), Friends of Jean Webster purchased the property occupied by St. Monica’s Church on Pennsylvania Avenue with plans to continue Sister Jean’s work. The site needed to be renovated, and efforts were taken to raise funds for the project. Finally in 2020 Sister Jean’s Pantry was opened and became a site for the distribution of non-perishable food for needy people in the area. In 2024 the Kitchen was again opened and is today serving hot meals for hungry and homeless people five days per week.