An unhoused man and his dog had nowhere to turn when a rare winter storm hit St. George, South Carolina, recently – until strangers in the small town of 1,800 people stepped up to help.

“He was out there shivering,” Carlos Canales said, referring to when he saw Chris Brannon and his dog, Mowgli.

Canales gave Brannon all of the cash he had, but as the temperature dropped in the storm that hit the region in late January, one thought couldn’t escape Canales.

“I went back to ask Chris if he wanted something to eat, and that’s when I saw the icicles on his beard,” he said.

He helped Brannon get some hot food and headed home, but wasn’t done quite yet.

“I was having a conversation with my wife,” Canales said. ” She just told me, ‘I think God is trying to tell you something.'”

Canales went back out but couldn’t find Brannon and Mowgli, so he posted on Facebook asking the community for help. He said he “got bombarded by phone call after phone call on Messenger.”

“I just wanted to help”

One of the calls was from Lisa Steward Westbury, a retired judge’s assistant and lifelong St. George resident. She and council member Ruthie Tripp searched the town following clues from the community Facebook page – which helped lead them to Brannon.

“He had icicles on his beard, that’s how cold it was and rainy,” Tripp recalled.

By the time they found Brannon and made it to a nearby hotel, the community of St. George had raised enough money for Brannon and Mowgli to stay for the week.

“Our community, when we ask, we get,” Steward Westbury said.

More than 70 acts of generosity from the community followed, including cash donations and warm meals to make sure Brannon and Mowgli didn’t face the winter storm alone.

“Some of the people that help really don’t have much at all and they’re giving,” Tripp said.

Holly Noble, an EMT, saw the post asking for help and responded with a winter coat for Mowgli, despite her own circumstances.

“I literally had to borrow some gas money just to get to work to get to the next paycheck, but I sat there and calculated my mileage and going, ‘OK, I have enough to get there. I can do this,'” she said.

She empathized with Brannon’s situation, saying, “I’ve slept in my truck with my dog before.”

“I know what it’s like and thank God nobody judged me and I’m definitely not gonna sit there and judge him. I don’t know his story. I just wanted to help. I wanted to do what I could,” she said.

Canales was at awe at the community’s kindness and determination to answer the call.

“What struck me was the diversity of different people from different backgrounds,” he said. “That speaks volumes right there. No racial barrier that you saw. What you saw is humanity.”

Everything for Brannon was brought to a local motel where he and Mowgli were staying, and the manager offered more nights of shelter for free.

“You guys have definitely given us another chance at life. This time here will make a difference throughout the whole year,” Brannon said.