Island volunteers: Duo delivers for neighbors

When the town’s volunteer coordinator, Sara Mundy, needs someone to cover shopping trips for Islanders who have to stay at home, she has a ready supply of helpers to call on.

The husband-and-wife team of Eileen and Paul Hudon have an efficient system in place. “I write down the list,” Ms. Hudon said, “and Paul goes in and shops. That way we’re not sending two people in to the store. Then we deliver the order together.”

The Hudons are retired from careers spent in New York City, Paul as a NYPD sergeant, and Eileen as an English teacher at Richmond Hill High School in Queens, which she described as the most diverse school in the city.

They are not full-time Islanders, but came out in mid-March, not realizing they’d be staying much longer.

Ms. Hudon describes the volunteer response in the town as “one of the beautiful things. In addition to the physical beauty of the Island, there’s a spirit within.”

She said the volunteer work only takes them a couple of hours at a time, but could be a lifeline to Islanders who can’t do the shopping themselves.