Ellison arrived first. Her children lived across the country, and she usually ate alone.
Then came Mr. Grant, a retired mail carrier whose wife had moved into a long-term care facility.
Two college students volunteered to deliver groceries. Several teenagers offered to rake leaves, repair fences, and shovel snow during winter.
A young mother came for diapers and left with three new phone numbers from people who offered to help.
An elderly man sat by the window drinking coffee while a volunteer listened to stories about the hardware store he
