Mercy Care has awarded The Joy Bus a 2025 Mercy C.A.R.E.S. Community Reinvestment Grant in the amount of $149,780. Founded in 2011 in honor of chef and founder Jennifer Caraway’s friend Joy, who passed away from ovarian cancer, The Joy Bus is a nonprofit restaurant that delivers fresh, chef-inspired meals to homebound cancer patients free-of-charge. Additionally, The Joy Bus has a full-service diner available for the public to enjoy, with proceeds going to support the cause. The grant will fund the More Than a Meal Delivery Project, which provides Medically Tailored Meals and companionship to individuals homebound with cancer through a network of dedicated volunteers.
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“We are focused on growing our meal and visit program to serve more patients, with an ultimate goal of 2,500 home visits per week this year,” said Jennifer Caraway, founder of The Joy Bus.
To make the dream a reality, over the past several years, the organization has worked to build a new 6,700-square-foot facility. Now open, it includes:
- A new state-of-the-art commercial kitchen
- The Joy Bus Diner
- The Joy Bus Stop Pavilion Event Space
- An organic food pantry available free of charge to all cancer patients in Maricopa County, paired with a meal planning service.
- A culinary program providing training, certification, and job placement to young adults who have been personally affected by cancer and are interested in pursuing a career in the culinary arts.
- A teaching kitchen for cancer patients and their caretakers, medical students, and others interested in the preparation of nutritious food, especially as it relates to cancer and general physical health.
“Now we will be scaling up to 2,500 meals a week and delivering five days’ worth of food instead of a single hot meal, plus we will still be delivering a bouquet of fresh flowers, and using our amazing volunteer visitors,” said Caraway.
Mercy Care partners with organizations across Arizona that advance health equity and address social risk factors to improve health outcomes. Through grant funding, sponsorships, volunteer efforts and board participation, in the past few years alone, Mercy Care has invested over $38 million in community reinvestment projects that help manage chronic conditions; support mental health and well-being; address housing security; and empower recovery from substance use.
“The Joy Bus exemplifies what it means to address health-related social needs with compassion and innovation—delivering medically tailored meals, reducing food insecurity, and easing social isolation for individuals navigating cancer,” said Trisha Stuart, director of community relations. “Through our Mercy C.A.R.E.S. Community Reinvestment program, we are proud to support The Joy Bus and their ‘More Than a Meal’ model, which brings both nourishment and hope directly to the doorstep of those who need it most.”
