Stepping Up: Local Businesses Find Ways to Thank Health-Care Workers, First Responders
Officer Longstreet and Patrolman Melhouse with dinner purchased and donated by 1st Bank of Sea Isle City.
To say that COVID-19 has been devastating to our country and the resat of the world is an understatement. The past few months have been difficult to navigate for everyone, but most especially for the health-care workers and first responders who risk their lives every day to save ours.
While it would be easy to focus on the negative effects of this awful virus, we’d rather focus on the positive things we have seen and heard, reminders that in the toughest of times there is always someone wanting to help. Whether it was dinner for the police department, masks to protect our health-care workers, or even dressing up as the Easter Bunny so the kids didn’t miss the holiday, there are so many people in the community who did something to show they care.
The 1st Bank of Sea Isle City brought a dinner from A Modo Mio to the Sea Isle City Police Department. A Modo Mio had been taking dinner to the department regularly and 1st Bank of Sea Isle City stepped in to cover the costs for one weekend. “The board of directors and management team wanted to say thank you to some of the essential workers like the first responders in our community,” says Larry C. Schmidt, the bank’s president and CEO. “ We quietly heard that A Modo Mio restaurant was doing this for the past a couple of weeks. So we thought, let’s help the humble giver [the restaurant] by sponsoring one weekend. We thought it was a win-win for the local business and the first responders.”
The Carefree Boat Club of South Jersey is new to Sea Isle this year. This fun group offers the opportunity for anyone to enjoy the boat experience without having to actually own a boat. The club ran a campaign, #WELOVEOURLOCALS, to honor the sacrifices of frontline workers and pay special recognition to those who impact the community in a positive way. People were asked to email their nomination for a first responder or health-care worker to win a free, one-year membership to the boat club, which includes unlimited access to luxury boats and on-the-water training.
“We are grateful for the selfless service of our local first responders and health-care workers,” says Sean McNulty, the club’s membership director. “Their sacrifices help keep all we love about the New Jersey Shore safe and healthy for our families, neighbors, and colleagues.”
Bujar and Gani Daku, the owners of La Fontana Del Mare, La Fontana Coast, Fratelli’s Wood Fired Pizzeria, La Vecchia Fontana and Polpo Ristorante, brought dinner to the Sea Isle City Police Department to show their support to the first responders during these hard times. Fratelli’s also delivered pizzas to the Cape Regional staff and the Sea Isle City Fire Department.
Scott Oliver from Basilicos delivered dinner to the Sea Isle City Police Department with his two sons. His wife, Lauren, received a call at work from a customer who wanted to do something to help the community. They all decided to do a “pay it forward” and, with a generous donation from the customer and his family (who wanted to remain anonymous), they provided a warm dinner for the police.
“We decided that food can provide some comfort and that’s how we could help,” Oliver says. “I made fresh breads daily and we handed them out to our customers, thanking them for their kind words, their gift-card purchases, and for just being there at our takeout window. We’ve gotten so much support from this town it’s been awesome. We were happy to be a part and spread some good vibes through such a strange time. We love this town so much and we’ll continue to do what we can to help our community.”
If you were around on Easter weekend, you might have seen the Easter Bunny go by on a firetruck. That was all courtesy of Let’s Party Events. In an effort to spread joy to the community, Shawna Mulford and her staff have also been providing free Zoom chats to help children celebrate birthdays, supplied art materials for families in need, made masks for local nurses and families, and produced a drive-by parade so Disney friends could visit a little girl with kidney failure whose Make-A-Wish dream was postponed. The Easter Bunny was a favorite.
“The Easter Bunny is a holiday staple and we couldn’t let an opportunity pass to bring some joy to our friends in the Sea Isle community,” Mulford says. “Joined by the mayor, fire chief, police chief and EMT Services – it was a wonderful day spent spreading joy throughout the streets of this fantastic town. Sea Isle has always been so good to us, and we appreciated the chance to give back what we could.”
Gleeson’s Liquors is running a food drive for the community, collecting donations of money and food. With the money raised, it will purchase $10 gift cards to local grocery stores and hand them out, along with the donated goods they collect.
“We are very fortunate to remain open in this difficult time when many businesses are not,” says owner Tom Gleeson. “We wanted to do something to help the people that are out of work, so we started a food drive. The response has been amazing. My wife took it one step further and started a GoFundMe page which has also taken off. In addition to all the food that is coming in at the store, we have collected over $1,100 which we use to purchase gift cards for food. We intend to keep it going for as long as it is needed.”
The food and gift cards will go to the VFW in Belleplain, where they will then be distributed to the homeless veterans and others in need in this area.
This is our chance to say thank you to all of you for reminding us how lucky we are to live here.
