<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585421945185.jpeg" alt=" Meg Heriford puts free bagged lunches outside of the Ladybird Diner in downtown Lawrence. Her restaurant has been closed since March 15, but Heriford and staff are preparing meals for those who need them. Nomin Ujiyediin / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> Meg Heriford puts free bagged lunches outside of the Ladybird Diner in downtown Lawrence. Her restaurant has been closed since March 15, but Heriford and staff are preparing meals for those who need them. Nomin Ujiyediin / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/kansans-turn-each-other-help-during-coronavirus-outbreak#stream/0">Kansas News Service</a>LAWRENCE, Kansas — It’s hard for Meg Heriford to tell people they’re no longer allowed to walk into her restaurant. She runs the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ladybirdlawrence" target="_blank">Ladybird Diner</a> in downtown Lawrence, one of the first restaurants in town to close when coronavirus cases spiked in the U.S.After
 one crowded lunch service, Heriford said, she could no longer justify 
the risk to her staff or customers. The restaurant closed March 14, 
though she and a small number of staff haven’t stopped working. The 
Ladybird is offering free bagged lunches for anyone who needs them. 
Heriford buys the food from her usual distributor, prepares it and 
leaves it on carts in front of the restaurant.“My heart soars 
and breaks, and soars and breaks a thousand times a day,” she said. 
“It’s been really taxing, but also really very clear that this is a 
thing that we should keep doing. Because the need has increased every 
day.”As local businesses close, companies lay off workers and <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/these-kansas-counties-are-ordering-residents-stay-home" target="_blank">counties order most people to stay at home</a>,
 some Kansans are taking it into their own hands to help their 
communities. The aid comes in various forms: free meals, providing child
 care for essential workers, delivering groceries to the homebound.On Facebook, residents in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lfkmutual/" target="_blank">Lawrence</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ICTResponse" target="_blank">Wichita</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/283129396002492" target="_blank">Shawnee Mission</a>
 have created pages and groups for people looking for assistance — and 
looking to help others. On Reddit and Nextdoor, people seeking supplies 
get responses offering rolls of toilet paper and bottles of hand 
sanitizer, or tips on where to buy them.Chandra Di Piazza, a 
teacher in Wichita, said one of those Facebook efforts sprang up for her
 tight-knit neighborhood, Riverside. Since her school closed, she’s been
 working part time from home. So she decided to volunteer to babysit for
 first responders and make deliveries for people who can’t go out.“I
 was a young single mom, and if I had been in that situation where I had
 to go to work and everything was closed, it would have really hurt me,”
 Di Piazza said. “I have that time to do whatever needs to be done for 
my neighbors.”Di Piazza is one of about a dozen other people offering help on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ictresponse.com/" target="_blank">ICT Response</a>, a website started to help Wichita residents through the COVID-19 breakout.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585421999196.jpeg" alt=" Free bagged lunches and milk sit outside the Ladybird Diner in downtown Lawrence. Credit Nomin Ujiyediin / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> Free bagged lunches and milk sit outside the Ladybird Diner in downtown Lawrence. Credit Nomin Ujiyediin / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>Others are joining groups that existed before the pandemic, like the nonprofit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BallardCommunityServices" target="_blank">Ballard Center</a> in Lawrence, which distributes groceries to families in need.On
 a rainy Tuesday morning at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, Rachael 
Shankland, a legal assistant in Lawrence, was one of about 30 
volunteers. She saw on Facebook that the center needed volunteers, and 
she needed something to do, now that her office is closed and Douglas 
County is under a “stay at home” order.“Seeing how scared 
everybody is just makes you want to make sure everyone doesn’t have to 
worry about little things like food,” she said. “I feel like this is one
 of the essential things that … we’re allowed to be out and doing.”Usually,
 only about 15 volunteers help with each event, said Marion Belcher, who
 has volunteered to distribute food for the Ballard Center for more than
 12 years. But twice as many people as usual helped unpack food from 
crates and sorted them into bags to give to a line of cars snaking 
through the parking lot.The number of people in line was 
atypical, too, Belcher said. Usually about 100 families come to the 
bimonthly distribution. He estimated the total number of families 
approached 300 on Tuesday.“I think it’s the coronavirus: the 
fallout from it, the unemployment, stores closing,” he said. “Things 
that people normally do, they can’t do anymore.”Kansas saw more than 23,000 people <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/amid-stay-home-orders-more-68000-people-kansas-and-missouri-file-unemployment#stream/0" target="_blank">file for unemployment last week</a> — more than a 1,000% percent jump. So for families out of work, extra help from their community can make a big difference.Kristen
 Maxon was one of several people who stopped by the Ladybird Diner at 
lunchtime. She and her partner, who live in Lawrence, have done this a 
few times in the past two weeks.Maxon’s six children typically 
eat lunch at school, and they can still get free meals even though the 
buildings are closed. But the diner is more convenient.“I’m so glad that they’re doing this,” Maxon said. “This place is closer, so it’s great.”Both
 Maxon and her partner have been mostly out of work due to COVID-19. She
 balances a little working from home with homeschooling her kids and 
taking them on walks, all while social distancing.“I’m glad that
 we’re not at work spreading the virus, but it’s really hard,” Maxon 
said. “My house is in full chaos. It’s hectic.”Nomin 
Ujiyediin reports on criminal justice and social welfare for KCUR and 
the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/nominuj" target="_blank">@NominUJ</a>.

Kansans turn to each other for help during coronavirus outbreak