Westfield 'Feed The Front Lines' Starts Silent Auction

WESTFIELD, NJ — A local group called Feed the Front Lines, which provides meals from local restaurants to first responders in the Westfield area, said they will surpass 7,500 meals served on Wednesday. They also intended to raise more funds with a silent auction that started Tuesday, which will run through Tuesday, April 21. Find out more information on the silent auction here. Items up for auction range from jewelry to memorabilia to sporting events to a wine country trip.

There are several other ways to help local residents.

Mayor Shelley Brindle, in her nightly email on Tuesday, shared a plea from resident Lisa LaForte, a stylist at Sofi's Color Lounge in town. LaForte is trying to help her father, who is critically ill with coronavirus and is a candidate for experimental plasma therapy from recovered COVID-19 patients. If you have recovered, remained symptom-free for two weeks, and can donate type A+ plasma, please email Lisa at lisamarielaforte@yahoo.com.

Brindle also noted that Westfield resident Alex Jackman, as the President of Best Buddies at UPenn, knows this can be a confusing time for teens with special needs. She's organizing an effort to pair neurotypical teens with special needs buddies to Facetime with during these isolating times. If you have a special needs teen who would be interested in having a new buddy to text or Facetime with, fill out this survey.

As for Feed the Front lines, they had served 7,000 meals to local first responders as of Monday. Their website, for you to donate or find out more, is here.

On the site, organizer Steve Voice said that on Monday, The Brick Oven delivered lunch to emergency responders, and Burgerim in Clark delivered dinner. Together, the two restaurants served 336 portions.

"Our goal of 10,000 meals is within sight and based on current volumes we could, fingers crossed, reach it in roughly seven days," Voice wrote.

As of Monday night, there were 9,972 confirmed coronavirus cases in Union County, with 174 of those in Westfield.

Brindle said that she had to report three additional deaths — three women ages 88, 81, and 67, one of whom lived in a long-term care facility. That brings the total number of documented deaths in Westfield to 19.

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As of Monday afternoon, there were 4,377 deaths in New Jersey from coronavirus, and 88,806, confirmed cases, up from 3,518 deaths on Thursday.

Experts say that the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is more lethal and much harder to treat than the flu. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

Got a news tip or just want to reach out? Email caren.lissner@patch.com.