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“I was set and prepared for 50 to 60 dinners and that was gone in 20 minutes,” Siconolfi said. “And as I saw people pulling up with children, and people asking for other families, I couldn’t refuse. We ended up making about 300 dinners in total.”

The effort wasn’t just from Siconolfi and his restaurant though.

“Gencarelli’s Bakery in Bloomfield heard about what I was doing and sent over more bread, cakes, pastries. I couldn’t believe how much they sent — easily 50 loafs of bread and 100 assorted cakes,” he said. “It felt great giving that little extra to the kids.”

Siconolfi is working to help his community despite the fact that his business is suffering strain during the lockdown as much as many other businesses in the state.

“Our restaurant sits about 300 guests plus patio area that sits about another 80 people. We handle events, christenings, showers, communions, so this hit us hard,” he said. “But I just feel you can’t give up in life; we have to fight. So I figured takeout and delivery to help us survive, along with helping our staff. I feel every downside in life has an upside. I think it’s great, how almost everyone is doing what they can to help one another. Life was always going so fast that you didn’t have the time to stop and think how life is already hard for families in this day andjs age — something I myself overlooked.

“I just feel we all have a lot to be thankful for, and I want to spread the love and remind people of that.”