From Making Masks to Delivering Food, See How Everyday People Are Helping Those in Need During the Coronavirus Outbreak

As the world goes into lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19, many are volunteering their time and resources — and risking exposure to the potentially deadly virus — to help those most in need. From a cafe-owning family making meals for the elderly in Louisiana to homeless shelter residents making masks for hospital workers in Spain, here’s a look at everyday people finding ways to lend a hand amid the outbreak.

John Foster Gunter, owner of Word of Mouth Café in Louisiana, and his sons prepare free plate lunches for the elderly

Melinda Martinez—The Town Talk/USA Today Network/Reuters

Thuy Pham, Kati Barnett, and Jasmine Wall join others from a local Vietnamese Facebook group to make masks for donation to nearby hospitals and clinics in Tacoma, Washington

David Ryder—Reuters

In Budapest, civil guards deliver food to the homebound

Zoltan Balogh—EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

A volunteer cuts clear vinyl for assembling face shields as she and other volunteers meet an urgent need of local hospitals for personal protective equipment in Washington

David Ryder—Reuters

Matt Remle, a Native liaison with the now shut-down Marysville School District, delivers sack lunches to students on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington State

David Ryder—Reuters

Residents of Casa Cádiz, a shelter for homeless people and refugees in Barcelona, produce face masks for use in hospitals and nursing homes

Samuel Aranda—The New York Times/Redux

Volunteers move bags of nonperishable food and supplies into a Belmont Council on Aging bus as part of distribution to senior citizens in need in Belmont, Mass.

M. Scott Brauer—Redux

A man distributes giant teddy bears along emptied streets in Paris on March 15, the first day of the city’s lockdown; nine days later, residents were allowed outside only for exercise once a day, within 1 km of their homes

Thomas Dworzak—Magnum Photos

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