Founder of COVID Thailand Aid, Natalie Bin Narkprasert gives food to a boy at the railway-side community in Bangkok, Thailand Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Narkprasert, who runs a business in Paris, was stranded in her homeland by a flight ban, so she decided to use her skills to organize the network of volunteers, including Michelin-starred chefs, to help those in her homeland whose incomes were most affected by the pandemic restrictions.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

BANGKOK (AP) — Natalie Bin Narkprasert’s business was in Paris. But she was locked down by COVID-19 restrictions and stuck in Thailand.

Her heart was in Thailand, too — and it ached for her compatriots who were suffering in the pandemic. She thought of her own grandmother.

“She’s 94 years old, and then I really worried about her during COVID, like how is she going to cope and do things, so I just thought about all the people who are struggling during this time who might not even have a family or a home,” she said.

So she recruited a network of volunteers, including Michelin-starred chefs, to help those in her homeland whose already modest incomes were shattered by the pandemic restrictions. Her group, COVID Thailand Aid, says it has reached more than 30,000 people in more than 100 locations with care packages and freshly cooked food.

On a recent afternoon, the 28-year-old was front and center in the Bangkok heat, helping distribute meals in a small, low-income community beside a railway line.

Most residents are employed as maids, street vendors or shop assistants, and many haven’t worked for around two months.

“It means a lot to us. We are facing difficulties,” said Jintana Jantornsri, one of the community elders. “We can’t even pay rent. Many have no jobs and can’t sell anything. Everything is tough.”

Narkprasert decided to help after flight bans stopped her returning to France, where she runs property and e-commerce businesses. She started small, buying groceries for neighborhoods in need, but now has more than 450 volunteers who pull together food donations.