The community shared lots of "thank-yous" on social media for the efforts of the Merchantville Police Department and Merchantville Fire Department - Niagara Fire Company in bringing the Easter Bunny around town on Saturday, April 11th to compensate for the Covid-19 cancellation of our annual Egg Hunt. As promised, on a beautiful afternoon, the EB tour visited every street in Merchantville bringing kids and parents outside - while maintaining a safe social distance - to enjoy seeing and waving to this folklore symbol of Easter as he passed their home. 

If safety comes first, cuteness definitely comes second when it comes to a few precious photos coming out of Thailand during the coronavirus pandemic. Babies born at several of the Thailand’s hospitals are sharing photos of newborns who have been fitted with special plastic face shields - mini visors - to protect them from any risk of contamination from the coronavirus. The masks are designed to stop any droplets with the virus from coughs or sneezes from reaching the baby's face. Getty images uploaded a few photos by Lillian Suwanrumpha taken at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok on Thursday.

First lady Tammy Murphy said the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, known as NJPRF, was established “to collect donations and distribute funds. One hundred percent of donations received online by NJPRF will be used to fight the medical, social, and economic impact of COVID-19 on New Jersey’s most vulnerable, supporting organizations that provide essential services and aiding those on the front line of the pandemic. NJPRF is proud to be hosted by the Community Foundation of New Jersey, which has been serving the needs of New Jersey nonprofits and philanthropists for more than 40 years.” NJPRF announced its first round of grants on April 9th to help stabilize the food distribution network that provides food security for more than 1,000,000 residents in vulnerable communities across the state.To donate, go to https://njprf.org/. There are also many other ongoing statewide volunteer and donation efforts.

In addition to the Food Bank of SJ we are very fortunate to have several local food pantries that serve community needs. The Dolores Clark Food Pantry, located at Grace Episcopal Church, operates from 12:00-2:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and clients in need can drive up the church driveway, receive a pre-filled bag of groceries, and drive out of the parking lot all while keeping a safe distance. The Linda Knaus Food Pantry, located at Temple Lutheran Church - who recently received a $5,000 grant from the NJ Pandemic Relief Fund - will be distributing food bags on Tuesday, 4/14, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. NJ residency and ID are required. For more details or interested in helping please contact the church office. If you are willing and able, bags are prepared around 6:30 pm the Monday before distribution and any help is appreciated. Special thanks to the for their grant of $5,000 to our food pantry! St. Vincent dePaul Society Pantry Day, located at St. Peter R.C. Church, takes place on the 3rd Saturday of the month from 10:30 a.m - 12:00 p.m. Trinity UMC hosts a food pantry on the 2nd Tuesday of the month from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. A very special thank you to all who keep this vital human service going!

New Jersey health officials have been reporting statewide totals and providing a county-by-county breakdown, but some county and municipal health departments have been providing additional detail, including town-by-town case numbers. As of 4/10/20 Merchantville has 9 Covid-19 positive cases. Our adjoining towns are Cherry Hill with 181 cases and 4 deaths, Camden with 162 cases and 3 deaths and, Pennsauken with 93 cases and 1 death. Nearby are Collingswood with 17 cases, Haddon Township with 22 cases, Maple Shade with 29 cases, Cinnaminson with 23 and, Moorestown with 52 cases. 

Mike Denardo from KYW Newsradio interviewed Randy Oakford from Aunt Charlotte's Candies yesterday to talk about how the pandemic is impacting this year's Easter sales. Oakford said 40 percent of the store's annual revenue normally comes at Easter and the need to "stay-at-home" resulted in laying off two-thirds of her 35-person staff. However, although the volume of sales are down, customers have been very loyal and they have been busier than ever filling phone orders for curbside pickup, local delivery, or shipping - even causing their phone system to crash early in the week when 276 calls came in at opening time.