A Day to Help, and Hope

In another tent, sixth-grader Davon Weir, 12, was standing on a scale as he ran through a battery of health tests. He weighed in at 64 pounds, then measured up at 54 inches.

Someone handed him a card with the figures. It showed he was in the top 5 percent of his age group in height. And it said he had a body mass index of 15, which meant he was the picture of health, a woman explained.

But Davon wasn't satisfied.

"I want to be as tall as my brother," he said, holding his hand several inches above his own head to show how far he had to go. He was off to a good start, having sampled the apples with peanut butter and raisins at the healthful-food stand.

"It was good," Davon said, before giving the celery a more modest review: "It was all right."

Back at the haircut tent, Corbett was packing up. It had been a rewarding, but at times difficult, day for the stylist who had come at the request of her cousin, Jamie, a D.C. resident who was volunteering.

One family had complained about Corbett's work, although she explained to them that she didn't have all her salon gear in the makeshift parking-lot setup. She began to tear up.

"Where do you work?" Nelson asked her.

"In Ohio," she said.

"Dang," he replied. "You mean I have to go all the way to Ohio to get my hair cut again?"