Verrilli's Feeds Hungry Kids In Morristown Throughout Pandemic

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Things at Verrilli's are a bit slower and more challenging than they were a year ago. More places to eat have reopened, food prices have risen and they're putting their trust into customers that those who walk in without a mask have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

This summer also opened up more opportunities for people to travel than the last. So business reduced a bit at the Martin Luther King Avenue eatery compared to this time last year.

"Summertime really takes a toll on you, because people are out and about and away," said Kristi Dimogerodakis, who runs Verrilli's. "But, for the most part, we’re keeping our head above water."

And Dimogerodakis knows firsthand that circumstances can get significantly worse.

Early in the pandemic, she was among three employees working 15-, 16-hour days at Verrilli's. When Dimogerodakis finally got out to make a delivery, she saw her first line of people awaiting food distribution.

Morristown Patch is featuring local businesses and focusing on their recovery from the brunt of the pandemic. If there's a business you think deserves some attention, comment below or email josh.bakan@patch.com. Last week, Patch featured SmartWorld Coffee.

"I was kind of amazed that there was such a need in Morristown, because it’s a pretty affluent community," Dimogerodakis said. "And then I got to looking around, and I saw it was one demographic that was truly the hardest hit: the undocumented workers, who weren’t getting the stimulus checks and the unemployment and the extra $600 a week."

Dimogerodakis looked for ways she could help. And before she knew it, people started donating so she could feed the community. Soon, Verrilli's started giving pizzas to those on the community lines awaiting food assistance.

"Yeah, I could go buy a bag of apples, but that’s not as much fun to a kid as a pizza," Dimogerodakis said.

When the lines fizzled, Dimogerodakis still had $1,000 donated dollars. She wasn't sure how to use it. So she got in touch with the Morristown Neighborhood House. The Neighborhood House is as old as Verrilli's — founded in 1898 — and provides year-round resources to enhance educational and social development in Morristown's youth.

With the money on hand, Dimogerodakis said, "Give me 25 of your hungriest children." But the organization served about twice as many, and she didn't want to leave any out.

So Dimogerodakis explained the situation on social media. Within 24 hours, she had enough money to feed twice as many kids for five weeks last summer.

"My phone sounded like a cash register," she said. "I had never heard of Venmo before, and I didn’t know what the heck was going on with my phone. It was like, ‘cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching.’ And I turned around, and I was just totally dumbfounded by the graciousness of our community — how giving and loving they are, especially when it comes to children."

Summer turned to fall, and Verrilli's continued giving pizzas each Tuesday to children during their after-school program. Dimogerodakis said they'd give out the pizzas as long as they can. More than one year later, they still distribute them each Tuesday.

They've also been able to give pizzas to the hospital, police, firefighters and volunteers at Table of Hope, which provides free food distribution in Morris County. Things may be a little slower than usual at Verrilli's, but they haven't missed a beat in their community efforts.

"My motto is, God gave me two hands — one that I can receive with and one I can give with," Dimogerodakis said. "I can’t sit here and know that people are doing their best to keep my business afloat, and not pay it forward."

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