Charlotte Potter graduated from Stonehill College in 2019 and soon after won a Fulbright Scholarship to teach in Greece. She was working with elementary school students this past year but in March, when the coronavirus began hitting Europe, she had to leave the country fast.

“I didn’t even have time to say goodbye to my students,” she said. “It was heartbreaking.”

Back on the Vineyard, Ms. Potter stayed in quarantine for two weeks and then began looking for ways to help out the community. She reached out to Rose Cogliano who runs the Oak Bluffs Council on Aging.

“She needed help with the high risk clients who can’t leave their house,” Ms. Potter said. Now, along with other volunteers, Ms. Potter makes the rounds of the community, doing grocery store runs, getting mail, picking up prescriptions, whatever anyone needs.

“We talk on the phone first and I tell them how the process works,” she said. “Then they leave a grocery list usually taped to their door and I call ahead to the grocery store to let them know I am coming. Later, I drop off the groceries on the porch.”

“I have to take a lot of safety precautions,” she added.

Ms. Potter grew up in Oak Bluffs and graduated from the regional high school in 2015. She played on the first girls tennis team to win a state championship, starting a dynasty still going strong. The girls tennis team has won five consecutive state titles.

As a native of Oak Bluffs, Ms. Potter knows her town well, but has been making new friends among the seniors in her community.

“It’s been great getting to meet new people,” she said. “I do a lot of talking to them by phone or through the door but when this is over I want to meet them face to face. I love these people.”

“This is the time as a community when we need to step up if we can,” she added.

— Bill Eville