Since the entire state of Victoria was placed under coronavirus lockdown last week, Geelong taxi driver Lovepreet Sharma, also known as Harry, has had some extra time on his hands.
The stage four lockdown — the state's fifth since the beginning of the pandemic — means there are far fewer people needing a taxi to get places.
But the 34-year-old is not satisfied with sitting still. Despite losing work himself, Sharma and three of his fellow taxi drivers have been offering a free delivery service to vulnerable people who are unable to leave their homes.
"Work is going to be quiet and we'll have a bit of time," he said.
The four drivers came up with the idea during the first lockdown in March last year. Sharma said he was talking to an elderly customer who mentioned that she was worried about how she would get through the stay-at-home period, as her family lived an hour away in Melbourne.
"So that's when I thought, maybe there's a lot more people like that who may be needing help," he said.
"So I discussed with my friends and asked if maybe we could do free deliveries for vulnerable people, that was the whole idea."
This means picking up and dropping off click-and-collect orders, delivering medication, or delivering groceries; all free of charge.
Charities and not-for-profits have also contacted the group to organise the delivery and collection of donated goods.
While the Facebook post promoting the service said it runs between 10:00am and 5:00pm each day, they add: "Anything urgent we will try and help after hours, too."
It continues: "We are also happy to supply some food if you are in need. If you are struggling, don't be shy, now is the time for helping each other."
Now into their fifth lockdown, Sharma said they had no plans to stop.
"Everyone is very thankful and grateful for what we are doing," he said.
"That's why we'll keep doing it every lockdown and the next lockdown too, if it happens again."
'We're all in this together'
With more than half of Australia's population in lockdown across Sydney, Victoria and South Australia, little acts of kindness — like the ones offered by Sharma and his friends — are regularly popping up in community Facebook groups.
While the lockdown orders, put in place to stem a growing outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant, have meant Australians are physically further from each other, for many it has been an opportunity to to lend a helping hand.
Facebook posts including offers to deliver meals, donate groceries to people out of work, or check in on elderly neighbours, are growing by the day.
Some businesses are also getting involved, like the Oxford Tavern in Sydney's inner-west, which is delivering free meals to out-of-work hospitality staff.
For south-west Sydney small business owners Roy Marando and Julie Bishop, it is about recognising that "we're all in this together".
Supplied: Roy Marando
)The pair own a real estate agency in Fairfield, the centre of the NSW's most serious COVID-19 outbreak.
As a result, residents of the Fairfield, Liverpool and Canterbury-Bankstown local government areas are now subject to harsher restrictions than the rest of the city, unable to leave their local government area unless it is for authorised work.
"Most of our tenants, or a lot of our tenants, live pay to pay, week to week … they've been good tenants, but they're casual workers, and when their work supply got cut off last year, we noticed that a lot of them struggled very, very hard," Ms Bishop said.
Armed with this knowledge, the business wanted to get "on the front foot" this time. Not only have they encouraged their tenants who are struggling to afford rent to come forward to work out an alternative payment plan, they are also delivering care packages to locals in need.
Supplied: Roy Marando
)The packages include pantry staples — like bread, pasta, tinned tomatoes, cereal, and vegetables — and always a special treat as well. "A chocolate bar, a bag of lollies, or TimTams, something that's going to make you feel good as well as fill your tummy," Mr Marando said.
During last year's lockdown, Ms Bishop said they delivered about 50 care packages.
This lockdown, she said they've received more messages for help in one day than during the entire period last year.
While each care package sets them back about $25, they say seeing the reaction from the recipient is priceless.
"I had a six foot guy, muscled out, tatts, everything, and he started tearing up and he goes 'can I give you a hug please, mate?'," Mr Marando said.
"It's just worth it, I would do it every day forever if I could."
'It's a nice feeling'
In the Melbourne suburb of Northcote, florist Emely Alakus said there were "so many" people volunteering their time and money to make lockdown easier for others.
Supplied: Emely Alakus
)She was happy to be small part of the effort, she said, after a handful of strategically placed bouquets in a public park brought in a flood of positivity from the community.
"The purpose for dropping off the flowers was just to do something nice and for someone else to enjoy them," she said.
"But I've had so much amazing feedback, and messages, and orders come from that, which is just completely unexpected."
When the lockdown meant the 27-year-old had to shut the doors to her store — which she opened just three months earlier — she was left with the stock she had ordered for the weekend.
After making up some bouquets and photographing them, she took them down to the park so they could brighten someone's day during their daily exercise.
A note attached to the flowers read: "To you, we hope these blooms put a smile on your dial and help lockdown look a little bit nicer."
ABC: Jean Edwards
)Ms Alakus said she was "one of the lucky ones" and was confident her businesses would survive the latest round of restrictions.
But, she said, it's important to remember the lockdown — which was extended for an additional seven days on Tuesday — has meant some people would struggle to stay afloat.
"To make any difference, it's just pretty great, it's a nice feeling and nice to know it could make a difference to someone else," she said.
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