Essex County Teen Brings 200 Hot Meals To NJ Funeral Homes: WATCH – Bloomfield, NJ Patch

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Lots of people have been offering touching messages of thanks to health care and public safety workers as they battle on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis. But a 15-year-old in Essex County recently put together a heartfelt nod of appreciation for another group of essential employees: funeral home workers.

Last weekend, Marquese Dukes and his Bloomfield-based nonprofit, the Love Over Loathe Foundation, donated more than 200 hot meals to nine funeral homes in North Jersey and New York City.

Dukes, a student at Cicely Tyson Performing Arts School in East Orange, and his brothers, Jaylen and Donnell, then traveled to each funeral home, offering a personal “thank you” to each.

With each bundle of meals, a message was included from Marquese. It read:

“This is a time where we should celebrate our funeral home staff for your work and the challenging conditions that you are facing … As we know it, life has made its turn, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the character of our people. You guys continue to fight for us in a time where it feels like the world is crumbling right before our eyes. Your dedication, your strength and your sacrifices are unmatched. You are all deeply appreciated and loved for your continued efforts to protect the world and its people on an elevated scale … We are praying that God’s grace, mercy and protection covers you and your families as you all work tirelessly and selflessly … Thank you for everything!”

The coronavirus has hit tragically close to home for Dukes. The teen’s grandfather, Nathaniel Hallman, recently died from complications related to COVID-19, said his mother, Hope. And several people they know in the church community have also passed away from the disease.

Visits were made to eight funeral homes in New York City and the following New Jersey locations:

Newark – Perry’s Funeral Home, Family Funeral Home, Cotton Funeral Home, J.E Churchman Funeral Home
Orange – Cotton Funeral Service
Irvington – Clarence B. Wright Funeral Home
Englewood – Eternity Funeral Home
Paterson – Bragg Funeral Home
Clifton – Allwood Funeral Home

After the round of visits was over, there were some hot meals left for homeless people, too.

Story continues below video

TRAGEDY INTO TRIUMPH: RISING ABOVE BULLYING

Hope Dukes told Patch that her son was a victim of bullying at his school last year, which left him with brain damage and other injuries. But true to his character, he “turned tragedy into a triumph” and used the incident as inspiration to create his nonprofit, the Love Over Loathe Foundation.

Dukes shares the story of what happened – and how it changed him – on the foundation’s website:

“In October of 2018, I began to get bullied at my school. For a long time, it appeared as a ‘playful time of joking,’ but, inside, I really didn’t like it. These jokes made me feel very insecure about myself and I began to develop low self-esteem. When I expressed myself to my peers and expressed to them that I didn’t like the nasty ‘jokes,’ the bullying began to get worse. It started out as verbal bullying; my peers at school would tease me and call me names. My peers harshly joked on my weight and the fact that I loved the Lord and loved to sing.”

As the verbal bullying got worse, it developed into social bullying, Dukes says:

“A student at my school tried to get off the school bus and fight me in front of my home. The kids posted videos of my refusal to fight back on social media. My peers began to make flyers with my photo on it, advertising another fight, posting voting polls on Instagram, asking other peers to vote on who they thought would win. My peers called me all kind of vicious and cruel names, some of which are too cruel to even repeat.”

That was when things turned violent. According to Dukes, his life was threatened.

“As the social bullying progressed, it became physical bullying,” he said. “Struggling to defend myself, I was assaulted and kicked in the head, leaving me with many damages. [It’s] something I will remember for the rest of my life and something that has affected me tremendously.”

The abuse also took a toll on his mental health. Dukes became “very depressed and angry,” struggling with post traumatic stress disorder and lashing out at the people he loves.

“I blamed myself and I felt like nothing,” the teen said.

Eventually – after “much prayer, encouragement, therapy and even medication” – he began to heal and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Resolving to make the world a better place, Dukes put his plan into action, launching his foundation with the help of his family members.

His personal connection to the mission is evident in the nonprofit’s logo.

“When I was attacked, I had my Fitbit watch on,” Dukes explains. “Inside the heart in my logo is that Fitbit monitor. In the heart where the lines turned yellow, is when I was actually getting kicked in the head, which caused me the brain damage.”

Learn more about Dukes and his work in the community here.

THE MENACE OF BULLIES: PATCH ADVOCACY REPORTING PROJECT

As part of a national reporting project, Patch has been looking at society’s roles and responsibilities in bullying.

Do you have a story to tell? Email us at bullies@patch.com, or share your views in the comments.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Bloomfield Facebook page. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Sign up for Patch email newsletters.