It was a big day for Rhiannon Morlan. She was coordinating the delivery of 100 meals to Powell folks in need of a helping hand and running a raffle intended to inject needed funds into the community.

The founder of Love Thy Neighbor — a Facebook group made up of local residents — she barely had time to stop and talk on Tuesday. And COVID-19 had just hit home: Her daughter, Janee Marie Morlan of Kansas, had been tested for the virus earlier in the day after coming down with the familiar symptoms. Waiting for results was agonizing.

“It was an eye-opener,” Rhiannon said.

On furlough from her career as a traveling trainer for doctors and nurses, Rhiannon started seeing requests for help on the page she started on Facebook. People were looking for a gallon of milk or a carton of eggs. With so many people suddenly out of work, she decided something had to be done.

“We had a Facebook page that was meant to promote positivity — a place for members to post like, ‘Hey, I need a carton of eggs’ and somebody else could offer to help,” Rhiannon said. “It was meant to be a way to help each other and keep everything going.”

Soon the group was being offered donations and they started delivering groceries. Things quickly grew from there. The American Legion donated the use of their kitchen facilities and Tommy May and his girlfriend Jamie Buck offered their mobile barbecue business to help cook meat for meals.

May spent Tuesday night tending to several roasts in his commercial smoker. He and Buck run Smoke Eaters barbecue, a popular mobile eatery in the Powell area. May had already had a full day. He spent four hours fighting a grass fire earlier in the day — he’s a firefighter on Powell’s volunteer force — and he also co-owns a roofing company. But May needed to stoke the fire with chunks of hickory every 90 minutes through the night. He plans to make his service available “until we can’t do it or we’re not needed anymore.”

In the week since the service started, May has already cooked 200 pounds of meat for the cause. Buck, who is the director of health information management at Powell Valley Healthcare, helped coordinate deliveries and pitched in putting meal packages together. “As donations come in, we see how we can spice it up and figure out how we can make it work,” Buck said.

More than a dozen local volunteers, most with similar stories during the nation’s lockdown, are dedicated to help those in need through the crisis. Jamey Morlan, Rhiannon’s husband, said the recipients are from all walks of life.

“Everybody needs help right now,” he said.

Virginia Scott, of Cody, started the Point Cafe in the Park County Library just a few weeks before the lockdown of nonessential businesses.

“We didn’t even make it two months,” Scott said Tuesday, while sorting meal packages for delivery from the back of a station wagon.

Despite the stress, she wanted to volunteer. Scott had been calling around, looking for a way to share her skills, when she found the Powell group. Now, she and her two sons are volunteering daily for the effort. Eventually, Scott plans to reopen her cafe. Until then, she plans to do what she can for her neighbors.

Residents and local businesses have been quick to donate to the effort, Rhiannon said. Meals are also going to help local first responders and international students from Northwest College who were unable to return home when the lockdown started.

The unprecedented needs of those caught off guard by the spread of the virus and the subsequent shut down of many local businesses helped the Love Thy Neighbor group come up with a motto: All of us, helping all of us.

Tabitha Winninger, the owner of the TMW Styling, Color and Extension Bar, wound up winning the raffle. Winninger chose to immediately pay her winnings forward, splitting them up into envelopes and taping them to the front window of her salon, available to any passersby.

“I never win anything so it was a big surprise,” Winninger said. “I figured there’s some people deserving more of the money than I was. Even if someone takes all the envelopes, they need it more than me.”

The Love Thy Neighbor group has also organized a Saturday Night Dragging Main event. Drivers join in a parade from the former Shopko to Homesteader Park, staying in their cars but having fun as a community.

“It’s a way to have some social interaction without getting too close,” Rhiannon said.

To donate, contact Rhiannon through the “Love Thy Neighbor — Powell” Facebook page, call the American Legion post (307-754-3411), or contact the American Legion Auxiliary or the Sons of the American Legion.

On Wednesday morning, the Morlans got a call from Janee: Her test for COVID-19 was negative. Rhiannon rejoiced, saying “God is good,” before gearing up for another day of volunteering.