coronavirus new jersey

Coronavirus News: Gov. Murphy commends 12-year-old birthday boy asking for donations to New Jersey soup kitchen

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Gov. Murphy commends Vineland boy for gathering donations

Gov. Murphy commends a Vineland boy for gathering donations for his birthday.

VINELAND, New Jersey -- Governor Murphy congratulated a New Jersey boy who decided for his birthday he would make a difference in his community during these challenging times.

During his Saturday afternoon press briefing, Murphy said Dominic Mercado, a 6th grader at Sgt. Pilla Middle School in Vineland, had an "unusual request" for his 12th birthday presents.

"He asked for his neighbors and community to bring him boxes of pasta and cans and jars of tomato sauce that he will donate to the Vineland Soup Kitchen," Murphy said.

RELATED: Mom meets newborn nearly 2 weeks after recovering from COVID-19-related comae

On Friday alone, Murphy said more than 100 people, practicing social distancing, drove to Dominic's table set up outside his home and dropped off birthday presents for the boy to donate to the kitchen.

Since the emergency started, the governor said the Vineland Soup Kitchen has gone from serving approximately 120 meals a day to almost doubling that amount.

The Vineland Soup Kitchen posted video of Dominic to their Facebook page. Dominic said he picked these particular food items so people who will need them in the near future will have access to them without worry of them going bad.

"They might already have food for this week and next week, so these won't expire for a while. (The food) won't perish for a while," Dominic said.

Dominic's dad Carlos is a Vineland firefighter, which led the governor to remark, "Obviously the apple of service does not fall far from the tree."

Murphy then had one more message for the 12-year-old.

"Dominic, we wish you the very happiest of birthdays and we thank you," Murphy said.

MORE: Coverage from March 2020