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In mid-March, terrified of
catching COVID-19, Phyllis
Ross, 88, asked her newspaper
deliveryman if he’d throw
the paper closer to her West
Windsor, N.J., home. Greg Dailey,
was happy to oblige.
Days later, Ross’s predicament
was still on Dailey’s mind. If Ross
couldn’t make it to the sidewalk,
how could she possibly buy food?
So he called to ask: Did she need
anything from the grocery store?
Ross jumped at the chance—and
asked if he wouldn’t mind also
getting food for her neighbor.
The request inspired Dailey to
think of a new delivery service.
The following Saturday, he left
a note in the newspapers for all
800 houses on his route, offering
to drop off goods to anyone in
need—free of charge. He hadn’t
even made it home before the
calls started rolling in.
Initially overwhelmed, Dailey
quickly got to work with the
help of his family. They were
soon spending 12 hours a day
delivering food to senior citizens
in need. The family has since
supplied more than 140 homes
and conducted more than 1,000
grocery runs in the Mercer
County area—and they’re still
going. “Other than raising my
three kids, it’s been the most
rewarding thing I’ve ever done,”
Dailey says. —Madeleine Carlisle
consisting of a bowl of rice, a
protein and two vegetables.
Life has largely returned to
normal in Singapore, where
COVID-19 is currently under
control. Beng Who Cooks has
stopped its deliveries, and Chua
and Hung have shuttered the
food stall to focus on a new
endeavor: opening a restaurant.
But their work during lockdown
gave new meaning to goodwill,
which accountants, when
determining the full value
of a business, describe as an
intangible asset. Not that this
was about business. “I don’t
want to see kids or families go
hungry,” Chua says. —A.G.
The man who
made a paper
route a lifeline
On June 1, as demonstrators
filled the streets of Wash-
ington, D.C., to protest the
killing of George Floyd, Rahul
Dubey was at his home, not far
from the White House. After
a 7 p.m. curfew, he noticed
crowds in the street outside:
police had set up barricades
seemingly to trap protesters,
and were pepper-spraying
those who remained. Dubey
decided to take action.
“I open my door, and I start
yelling, ‘Get in!’” says Dubey,
who works in health care. “All
these people were swarming
in.” Dubey estimates he gave
70 protesters refuge, housing
them overnight to avoid curfew
breaches.
“People were coughing,
crying, strangers pouring milk
into strangers’ eyes,” Dubey
says. “They were sharing
information, writing down
numbers for bail bondsmen.
It was this real camaraderie.”
Dubey claims police officers
made several attempts to
breach his sanctuary that
evening: posing as protesters
trying to get inside, and
attempting to intercept the
pizza delivery he had ordered
for his houseguests.
The move to open his door
was driven by instinct, Dubey
says nearly six months later.
“It’s what was needed.”
—Josiah Bates
THE NEIGHBOR
WHO SHELTERED
THOSE IN NEED
COURTESY DERRICK FITZPATRICK; BENG WHO COOKS: AIK KAI TEO; COURTESY GREG DAILEY; COURTESY RAHUL DUBEY
