How a San Francisco neighborhood came together for a 4-year-old's birthday

Wednesday was Russian Hill resident Vicente Llopis’ 4th birthday — a quiet, indoors-only celebration with his parents and little brother that turned into a whole lot more at 5 p.m. thanks to some incredible San Francisco neighbors. less Wednesday was Russian Hill resident Vicente Llopis’ 4th birthday — a quiet, indoors-only celebration with his parents and little brother that turned into a whole lot more at 5 p.m. thanks to some incredible ... more Photo: Courtesy Of Trish Vicente Photo: Courtesy Of Trish Vicente Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close How a San Francisco neighborhood came together for a 4-year-old's birthday 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

You never know what San Francisco is capable of until you put it to the test.

And the coronavirus pandemic is certainly doing that.

As of Thursday, San Francisco had 450 confirmed coronavirus cases and seven deaths. Residents have been sheltered in place for 17 straight days, disrupting virtually all aspects of life — including something as simple as a 4-year-old’s birthday.

But, as the Russian Hill’s Llopis family found out Wednesday, putting San Francisco to the test has proven the city is capable of a heck of a lot.

Wednesday was Vicente Llopis’ fourth birthday — a quiet, indoors-only celebration with his parents and little brother that turned into a whole lot more at 5 p.m.

“I posted something on NextDoor asking for a little help from the neighborhood,” his mother Trish Llopis told SFGATE. “I was nervous too, because you can get a lot of slack on NextDoor for doing things wrong on there.”

The ask was to sing "Happy birthday" to Vicente at 5 p.m.

“I thought it would just be people in my building singing out of their windows,” she said.

Instead, more than 40 people — all properly social distanced — on rooftops, hanging out of windows, and in the streets serenaded the Llopis’ third-story window with a birthday belting the family won’t soon forget.

If you’re wondering how San Francisco is holding up, here are 40 people on rooftops, hanging out of windows, and in the streets (all socially distanced, of course) singing to a Russian Hill 4-year-old on his birthday ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ZawJPf9l1z — Grant Marek (@Grant_Marek) April 2, 2020

“Russian Hill, I’ve been in this neighborhood for 18 years, and this apartment with my husband for the past seven years. Especially not having immediate family close by — my husband and I are both transplants from the East Coast — it’s why we like living here so much, it is like a family. Guys who own corner store, New Russian Hill Market — they’re our family. Our mailman Gus — he’s our family. Our neighbor downstairs who owns Hedge Coffee, they’re our family.”

And one of the perks of having such a large neighborhood family?

“Everyone brought presents and just left them by the door,” Trish said with a laugh.

Presents aside, Vicente was mostly just excited about the gesture.

“I mean people were on the rooftops across the street,” Trish said. “Vicente is still talking about it, he just keeps saying, ‘That was so awesome.’”

The efforts from his parents were also warmly received.

Mom and dad stayed up until 3:30 a.m. building a cardboard pirate ship in the living room, put together a treasure hunt through their one-bedroom apartment, and even got him a giant doughnut from Bob’s Donuts, all of which Trish cataloged on Instagram (@trishllopis).

RELATED: 'We're a tight-knit group': Nob Hill bands together to get groceries to seniors

“I feel like in this neighborhood, surrounding this block, a lot of neighbors have been here a long time; they’ve known each other for a long time. I’ve called to check up on a few others, and they’ve called to check up on a few others, and we’re all helping each other, especially the older people who live here — everyone is coming together.”

Even though they all have to physically be apart.

The Llopis' coffee shop-owning downstairs neighbor Olga Sobal set up a coffee window for her building neighbors and has been using leftover coffee from her shop to make morning and afternoon flat whites and cappuccinos for her adult neighbors, and hot chocolates for young Vicente.

“To have something that little thing to brighten your day — to have a little social interaction — it’s great,” she said.

Grant Marek is Editorial Director of SFGATE. Email: grant.marek@sfgate.com | Twitter: @grant_marek

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.