OCTOBER 2026 16 In the Kitchen with Jennifer Caraway, Founder of The Joy Bus Diner 10401 N. 32nd St. Phoenix • joy-bus.org In the Kitchen F or Jennifer Caraway, food has always been about more than what’s on the plate. Since founding The Joy Bus in 2011, she + her team have helped serve more than 118,000 meals to families facing cancer. Today, Caraway runs the diner and the nonprofit behind it, bringing her lifelong love of food to the table in more ways than one. Tell us the story of The Joy Bus. I grew up on the west side, and on Sundays, there was a bus that would pick up kids and take them to Sunday school. It was called The Joy Bus. When my friend Joy became ill with ovarian cancer, I started making her meals. The name had two meanings. One day, when I was delivering her food, I had a thought that there were probably a lot of people out there that don’t have this kind of support. I decided to create the organization and called it Joy Bus because of my friend but also because of that bus in my childhood neighborhood. Once I had the idea, I spoke at a case managers conference, pitched it and got my first two clients. Did you have experience in the restaurant industry? My entire career has been in this industry. I started as a dishwasher when I was 14; then waited tables. I moved to Flagstaff and worked my way up, like a lot of others. It was for this pasta restaurant that’s not there anymore which sucks because it was really good [ laughs ]. I started as a busser, went to the line, then I left and got a general manager job. You moved around a bit? Yes! I left Flag for Portland, Oregon, and opened my first restaurant. Then I moved to Puerta Vallarta and opened a second restaurant, then went to Spain for a bit – where I had my two kids – and then I came back here to open a third restaurant. How does The Joy Bus work? I was making all the meals in my home with my two kids – they work in the diner with me now, which is rad, I get to be with my kids all day. So I was cooking all the food and partnered with Crooked Sky Farms for produce… I would go to the farm every Wednesday, get the food, cook it and deliver it. For three years we were doing this out of our house. National Charity League started volunteering and that was a game changer – they would come to the house, pick up meals, deliver – the program wouldn’t be what it is without them. It grew so much that I was running out of room in my kitchen so I proposed to the board that we needed a commercial kitchen. I said, ‘Let’s buy a restaurant and invite the public in, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go toward the organization.’ And they were not about it, because restaurants are hard! It’s a tough industry. But I’ve done this my entire life so I was able to convince them – even though at first I was pretty naïve, like, I thought we could run this with 100 percent volunteers. It’s all volunteer-run? It’s a skill – there are skills in this diner – and that’s what we needed to make it run, so we switched the model to 60 percent paid, 40 percent volunteer. At first, it was just me on the line and my son was in the dish pit and my daughter waited tables. As we got busier, we brought more people on. Our chef is brand-new and he’s legit, with awards and the white hat and everything. We’re so fortunate to have Chef Lenny with us. Give us an example of one of the meals. Each delivery is a week’s worth of food – at least 10 meals with each drop. Almost all of it is sourced locally. I’ve done my due diligence throughout the years and worked with our farmers and ranchers to make sure that these meals are made with real, fresh ingredients. One of the meals is a lamb and sweet potato meatball with turmeric rice and salad. We also do snack bags that have items like apple slices or oranges, maybe some peanut butter and granola and yogurt, some cheese. What is a medically-tailored meal? In order for our food to be a ‘medically-tailored meal,’ you have to have a registered dietary nutritionist on staff – we are a hub for all the RDNs at U of A and Grand Canyon University, Paradise Valley Community College, and they work with our chef to ensure that the recipes are specified to that client’s needs. Once they sign off, we can put the meal into production. What’s the Food is Medicine Coalition? I started the Arizona branch of the Food is Medicine Coalition last year. I’ve been to other states that do what we do and seen how they operate and seen how the

17 OCTOBER 2026 I knew from the beginning that it’d be working in restaurants. But it was easier for me to learn by doing. government and legislatures work to keep them funded. I know it’s possible but Arizona doesn’t have the things it needs to make that work – yet. I work with farmers, ranchers, health care people and providers, physicians, food-focused nonprofits, food banks, etc., so I can go and advocate for legislative action – not as The Joy Bus, but as everyone in this space, so that we can get costs billed directly to Medicare/Medicaid for our food. What is the first thing you remember cooking? I was just talking about this the other day! I think it’s a bananas foster at, like, age 9. …isn’t that the one you light on fire? Yes [ laughs ]. Did you attend culinary school? I knew from the beginning that it’d be working in restaurants. But it was easier for me to learn by doing. I opened a Mexican restaurant in Portland. Growing up in Arizona, we have Mexican food and taco shops all over the place. I like to sweat when I eat [ laughs ], so my food has a lot of spice. At the time, there were no Mexican spots in Portland, so I bought a building for, like, $13 grand and opened a restaurant. While I was there I met my kids’ dad and he was from Sinaloa, so we went to Mexico and I opened a place there. After we split, I moved to Tijuana with the kids and the company I worked for closed, so Spain was next. When I came back to the states, I opened a place in Scottsdale. Where does the inspiration for the Joy Bus meals come from? From travel. For example, my daughter and I hiked Machu Picchu in Peru, and when we came back, I cooked causa limeña de pollo (a cold layered potato and chicken dish) for clients. Every time I go somewhere I bring a dish back and implement it into the program. That’s a big reason that I travel, so I can eat! My kids and husband, when we travel, get angry when I say we’re walking… because if we walk, I can try 10 different restaurants. I have a list! I have a map! What’s been your favorite place you’ve traveled thus far? Nice, in France. This baguette we ate on the beach was amazing. It was a crusty baguette from a truck on the beach and it had goat cheese and ground beef. I got to go to Italy when I was working for an import company and brought the kids with me, and while we were there I ran us ragged with all the places we went and food we ate. By the time we got to Nice and saw that food truck, we were so tired and so excited to sit and eat. Tell us about your time on Chopped. I think that probably put us on the map a bit. I didn’t want to do it, honestly. When we started this I thought I would be in the kitchen and no one was going to talk to me. They called the restaurant and I thought it was a joke, right, like, I’m running a diner [ laughs ]. My daughter really loves the show so she convinced me to do it; I studied so hard, making sure I knew what judges liked and which judges liked whatever dishes. I used the $10,000 I won and put it toward The Joy Bus. That was huge for us, but then all these people started calling and it was like, ‘No, I did this, I’m done, now I’m focused on the program.’ What does a day in the life of Jennifer Caraway look like? I start at 5 a.m. and I’m usually done around 7 p.m. I’m running a restaurant, I’m running a nonprofit – two of the most difficult industries, and I put them together. I’m a genius, right? [ laughs ] It costs a lot to give out free food, so I’m constantly looking for ways to generate funding. Today I started with a fundraising meeting for our gala in October. Then I met with you. Then another meeting. Then a virtual lecture with a company in LA. Then a meeting with a charity for an event in December. Then a board meeting. Then dinner with a potential donor. It’s a lot! What’s next for The Joy Bus? I want to be able to provide meals across the state. We’re looking for partners and volunteers and it’s a great goal, so we’re excited to get the ball rolling. OUR FAMILY LAW TEAM HAS BEEN RANKED #1 IN RANKING ARIZONA FOR 6 YEARS IN A ROW! 1850 North Central Avenue | Suite 1400 | Phoenix, AZ 85004 602.285.5000 www.dickinsonwright.com