At their first stop in South Carolina serving hot meals out of their American Red Cross emergency response vehicle on Oct. 13, Joe Apicelli and Lynda Joly felt like they were back in Waterford thanks to Gregg Maddox.

Maddox lives in Carolina Cove, a section of Myrtle Beach where Apicelli and Joly were first dispatched to serve food to families affected by the hurricane. However, he lived in Waterford almost his whole life, and he started tearing up once he saw a truck from his hometown coming to help him.

“It just really built a bond between Lynda and myself and Gregg and the town and the state of Connecticut,” Apicelli said.

Most mobile food stops serve about 20 to 30 people before moving on to another part of the neighborhood, he said. However, nearly 100 people were fed at the Carolina Cove stop, including Maddox, who approached Apicelli when he saw “Waterford” written on the side of the truck.

Apicelli, who lives in Groton, and Joly, who lives in Brooklyn, are volunteers with the Connecticut chapter of the Red Cross through the Waterford office. Through their combined 23 years of service, they have been dispatched to help at local house fires, the Sandy Hook shooting, the papal visit to Philadelphia and Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. However, Apicelli said that while he had met people who had heard of Mystic and other local landmarks, he had never met anyone who had lived in the area.

After Hurricane Matthew’s landfall left them stranded on Interstate 95 in South Carolina for five hours, Apicelli and Joly went to Myrtle Beach to serve hot meals to area residents living at a shelter set up at Beach Church. They were then assigned to deliver food to nearby neighborhoods affected by the hurricane, starting with Carolina Cove where they met Maddox. Apicelli packed take-out containers as Joly handed them out at the truck. They served meals there twice a day for six days.

Joly said it was her first time serving meals, and there was nothing better than to reach out to people and listen to their stories. Even though they were only there for six days, she was thrilled to make the connection with Maddox and chat with him.

“I think that we made his day every day we were here,” she said.

They learned that Maddox had moved to South Carolina in 2015 because rent and the freezing temperatures had become too much for him. Nevertheless, he always referred to Waterford as his hometown when chatting with his neighbors.

Apicelli said Maddox was always one of the first people to greet the food truck. He would ask about local spots like Pizza Palace and the Cuckoo’s Nest, and he also knew Apicelli’s cousin Ron, who owns Ron’s Guitars in Groton.

Maddox’s friends in Carolina Cove told the Connecticut volunteers that they hadn’t seen him so happy in a long time, and Apicelli said it was tough to serve their last meal in the neighborhood. Residents who were complete strangers six days before sent them off with lots of hugs.

“We provided a service, they provided the love back,” he said.

For more information about volunteering with the Red Cross, visit the Connecticut chapter website or visit the Waterford office at 200 Boston Post Rd.

a.hutchinson@theday.com