As the winds whipped snow across the Island Monday night and Tuesday, most people hunkered down and stayed inside, off the slippery roads and out of the chill. But some hardy Samaritans braved the weather and the roads to make the storm a little bit easier for their neighbors.

Kristen Araujo of Edgartown and her family spent much of the blizzard traversing the Vineyard in a Ford F150, bringing supplies to the Red Cross shelter and helping Islanders check in on family members. Later, Mrs. Araujo drove Windemere nurses to and from the nursing home at the hospital campus for shift changes, relieving staffers who were well into a double shift thanks to the blizzard conditions.

Reached on Wednesday, Mrs. Araujo said at first she offered help to people who might want to check in on relatives but were uncomfortable driving on the slick roads. She is a member of the Island’s medical reserve corps and had already been out helping set up the shelter.

Good Samaritans came to call. — Albert O. Fischer

“I realized that it had started to snow a little earlier than people anticipated,” she said. In one case, she and son Trey made a run to West Tisbury to deliver soup to an elderly man whose caregiver could not drive out with the meal.

“It snowballed, literally, from there,” Mrs. Araujo said. She posted on the Facebook page Islanders Talk, offering to help out. The group has more than 3,000 members.

“I thought, what a perfect place to post,” she said. “It quickly spiraled into a bunch of awesome random acts of kindness.” She soon learned of the nurses who couldn’t get in to do their shifts, and of those who had remained at Windemere.

“They were stuck there for more than a double shift, and they needed to go home to their families,” Mrs. Araujo said. “My mother was a nurse for 40 years, and she was at the hospital here for 30. I know what that’s like, so I said hey, I can go scoop these people up.” She traveled between Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven and West Tisbury “basically around the clock from Monday to Tuesday,” bringing more than a dozen people to and from the hospital. When she realized she was tired and needed a nap, her husband Jay and sons Trey and Devin stepped in. Mr. Araujo is a licensed CDL driver, and did most of the driving during the worst of the storm (the family stayed put during whiteout conditions).

“I was in the passenger seat, and I would jump out and help,” Mrs. Araujo said. “It was a lot of teamwork.”

The Araujos also ended up helping others who were on the road in spite of the driving ban.

“We ran into a few people who shouldn’t have been out,” Mrs. Araujo said. “We helped a few people out; their cars had gone into the snowbanks.” She and Trey dug the front wheels of one car out of the snow.

Once the Vineyard Transit Authority buses began running again on Wednesday morning, Mrs. Araujo and her truck were off the roads. But before the family went inside to rest up, there were a couple of neighbors who needed help shoveling.

“It’s just one of those things — I feel like if there’s something you can do, and you can help, do it,” Mrs. Araujo said. The family gave their truck a new name after the blizzard: “We dubbed it the Stormtrooper.”

Plows and utility crews were on the roads overnight as well, and when Tuesday morning arrived, Cumberland Farms in Vineyard Haven was ready for them. The convenience store opened two hours later than usual — 7 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. — and stayed open until 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

“Before we even opened, I got so many texts from customers, plow people, Verizon and NStar workers — ‘we need coffee!’” store manager Liza Buckley said later. “I felt so bad — they knew I usually opened at five. There were a lot of people who came and waited.”

She said she was surprised by how busy the morning was, considering that there was a driving ban in place.

“People were still coming in,” she said. Police officers and emergency service personnel stopped in, along with snowplow and utility workers. All emergency personnel and plowmen received free coffee, Mrs. Buckley said.

Meanwhile, the phone kept ringing, as people called with just one question: Was Cumby’s open?

Mrs. Buckley said she sold more than 450 cups of hot coffee on Tuesday — no small number, but perfectly manageable. She usually starts to brew more once 500 cups go out the door.

And on Wednesday, it was back to business as usual, with the store opening at 5 a.m.

Across the Island, people began to dig out from the massive drifts and piles of snow. Neighbors reached out to neighbors for help plowing driveways and shoveling sidewalks. Islanders Talk again became a popular forum for connecting people.

A group of Boy Scouts set out on a shoveling quest of their own. Twelve members of Troop 91, fresh off a winter camping trip, shoveled the driveways of 15 homes on Wednesday and were in the middle of finishing up several more walks on Thursday morning.

“The boys were a great team,” Vanessa Fink said Thursday. Mrs. Fink’s sons are both Scouts; one is a Cub Scout. But “the Cubbies probably would have gotten lost in the snow,” she said. She said she was inspired to rally the Scouts because of her grandmother, who lives on West Chop. “We shovel her out every storm,” Mrs. Fink said. “I know that there’s other people out there.” She called the Council on Aging and posted on Islanders Talk to see if there were elderly or disabled people who might not be able to afford a private snowplow. Calls began to come in, and Troop 91 headed out. Some went out with their parents; Mrs. Fink and a group of six Scouts went to seven houses, clearing all in four hours.

“They felt good about it,” Mrs. Fink said. “They all worked together and did it . . . they got the job done.” One call was to the basement apartment of a handicapped woman who was completely snowed in. Others were to driveways that would challenge even the most seasoned shoveler.

The Scouts returned to West Chop on Thursday to tackle a few more driveways, Mrs. Fink said. After that, the forecast called for hot cocoa and sledding.