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Lawrence restaurant donating sack lunches to those in need amid COVID-19 pandemic

ladybird diner free sack lunches 2.jpg
ladybird diner free sack lunches.jpg
Posted at 11:37 AM, Mar 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-16 18:37:12-04

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Restaurants around the Kansas City area are closing their doors amid growing concerns about COVID-19, but they're still finding ways to serve customers.

At Ladybird Diner in Lawrence, Kansas, diners will no longer be allowed to come sit down for a meal but they will be offering free sack lunches during the week to anyone in need.

A steady stream of people offering grateful “Thank yous” came to grab a sack lunch Monday. Owner Meg Heriford said she sent the last sixty lunches with the Salvation Army.

Heriford has already received a donation of bread from another bakery to help her efforts.

If you want to help, she said she is not accepting monetary donations because she doesn’t know what will happen in the future, but encourages people to donate to local nonprofits that might have to do without amid the spread of COVID-19.

In a post on social media Sunday, Ladybird Diner wrote “with the hope that every choice we make right now can mitigate a surge on our local health care providers, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the diner for the next 2 weeks.”

Starting Monday morning at 1900 Barker, the bakery switched to a curbside and take out service only with customers ordering and paying online.

“We’ve decided to increase our efforts of balancing safety and the well being of you and our team,” 1900 Barker wrote in a social media post.

Ruby Jean's Juicery posted their locations downtown and inside Whole Foods in Kansas City, Missouri, will close but will offer pick up and delivery from their Troost location.