Sussex County Smiles of the Week

China Star Gives Back

When coronavirus first started making its way through China, sales at local Chinese restaurant China Star in Vernon dropped 40 percent.

When the virus reached the U.S, sales continued to drop, the restaurant was down 80 percent in March. Owner Kyle Lu made the hard decision to temporarily close on March 18.

But the sharp decline in business didn’t put Lu in a slump.

“My family and I have been serving Chinese food to this community for over 11 years,” Lu said. “We love to serve food to this community, and many of our loyal customers have become our friends. We have built up very long time relationships with the people in this community, I feel like they are part of my family not just regular customers.”

Even though China Star’s doors are closed for now, the is family working hard to give back to the community every way they can. Kyle spent two weeks searching online for medical-grade ASTM level 2 masks and finally found a supplier in California he could order from.

He ordered as many he could -- more than 2,000 -- and dropped them all off at the Vernon police station to be donated to local first responders and health care workers battling the pandemic head-on.

Lu also donated 10 cases of Coca-Cola and 10 cases of Snapple to first responders at Glenwood Pochuck Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

“It’s just something that I want to do to support the community as a business owner in the community for a long time,” added Lu. “I really love the community and I feel the responsibility to do something.”

China Star hopes to open back up as soon as possible.

Residents organize a food drive

“Three churches in Vernon and one in Wantage have food pantries that local people rely on, and with unemployment rapidly rising, even more people need right now,” says Wantage Township resident Aileen Donovan.

To help local pantries, Donovan organized a food drive in Clove Hill Manor, asking residents to bag up any donations and place them by their mailboxes by 11 a.m. on April 8.

Donovan, her son, and boyfriend then collected the bags and dropped off the donations at each of their four local pantries (from a distance, of course).

“They were all very appreciative and mentioned how they truly need food donations to keep up with the current demand,” says Donovan.

Cleaning up

Simple Clean, a commercial cleaning service based out of Sparta, N.J., is doing its part to help combat the coronavirus (and keep locals from stressing over the hunt for Lysol) by giving away germicidal disinfectant to the community.

To sign up for some, message Simple Clean on Facebook.

The company distributes the disinfectant on Fridays, packaging each person’s cleaner in a biodegradable coffee cup, labeled with their name and placed on a table outside. Like Starbucks, but free and for disinfectant.

Special Delivery

Nielsen Ford has a history of supporting those on the front lines. The Wantage car dealership has been spotlighting and awarding $500 to a different first responder every month for nearly a year.

Now, general manager Bill Snouffer is looking to give back to locals fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Plans are in place for Nielsen Ford to order and deliver 100 meals from Mohawk House to health care workers at Newton Memorial Hospital this week.

“We’re trying to take it up a notch,” Snouffer said. “We want to deliver something a little more special to show them that we care.”