Our Story
By Dawn Lucas, Owner & Founder
I have loved animals my entire life. I have also enjoyed cooking and making baked goods and food for others, for as long as I can remember. In 2013, I took the pledge to go vegan for a week and my husband, Aaron agreed to do it with me.
After successfully completing the week, we took a vegan cooking class, read books like The China Study and watched documentaries such as Forks Over Knives. The science and health aspects of a plant-based vegan diet were all making sense and we were feeling the results as well. The natural progression was the compassion for the animals and the benefits to our environment.
While seeing and feeling our health advantages, I wanted to help others who could benefit. I took a variety of plant-based nutrition and cooking classes and I just knew I wanted to turn my passion into a business and create a community to help others both human and animal.
In 2019, we opened the Gentle Giant Café on South Broadway in Pitman, NJ.
Billy, Our Gentle Giant
The namesake for The Gentle Giant Café comes from a childhood friend’s late son, Billy Blease, who passed at the young age of 29 in 2014.
His love and compassion for animals is what drove his nickname “Gentle Giant” and his legacy of quiet, kind compassion lives on through the café.
The café strives to serve compassion in thought, word and eats.
Outreach
Continuing Compassion
The café designates monthly donations to various organizations that support animals, including animal rescues, sanctuaries, and wildlife conservation.
Here are some of the organizations that we support:
Gallery
