Volunteering Virtually: How You Can Help Yourself and Others
Has quarantine got you down? It’s not just you.
How about volunteering? If your love language is gifts, you’re an Enneagram 2, or you just really love helping others, there are many volunteer opportunities available right at home.
First, we can’t forget the impact of a little note on your neighbor’s door offering to buy groceries. Checking in with your community makes a big and important difference if you have the means to go out and get groceries. And don’t forget to make a call to your loved ones that you can’t see right now--let them know you care.
Beyond this, here are some great opportunities to get involved in:
1. Talk More
DOROT has its Caring Calls Program, built to match volunteers with senior citizens who could use connection right now. If you’ve already Facetimed all of your friends, family, and everyone on your block, then this is the perfect opportunity for you.
2. Lend Someone Your Eyes
Be My Eyes is an app that connects sighted people with those who are visually impaired. This is done through video call. Whenever someone with a visual impairment needs help seeing something like a menu, ingredients on a box, instructions in a manual, etc., they can arrange a video call through the app with you on the other end.
3. Fight Poverty Through Being Tech-savvy
You might have heard about how the technology gap is being further impacted by COVID-19 right now. If this stuck with you and you want to do something about it, you can! With Right Here at Home, you can offer technology education and training to those who aren’t able to navigate it as well. Right Here at Home advocates for eliminating poverty through technology education, understanding that technology plays a big part of our lives (especially now), and knowing how to use it is key in thriving.
4. Use Your Language Skills
If you’re bilingual, trilingual, or any kind of polyglot, you can use your gifts to translate anything from medical texts to crisis response. Translators Without Borders offers those who are fluent in two or more languages the opportunity to volunteer with them as translators. Their mission is aimed at crisis response, development and preparedness, capacity building, and advocacy. If you feel that push to use your language skills to help someone out, this is the perfect fit for you.
5. Get People to the Polls (Safely)
One of the biggest ways to make a difference in the world is through voting. Helping others understand its importance is a great way to increase voter turnout, and Turnout Nation is finding a way to navigate mobilization through online endeavors. They aim to address this through friend-to-friend mobilization, creating a higher voter turnout. If advocating for civic duty is something that sparks your interest, sign up to volunteer with them today!
There are so many other ways that you can be a blessing to others at a safe distance during this time. You can make donations to charities supporting those affected by COVID-19, and you can continue to browse live online requests for online volunteering opportunities. You can contribute to spread hope when you choose to help someone in need, and you can help yourself, too.
About the Author
Michaela (Mikee) Parangalan is a Filipino midwestern gal pursuing English on the East Coast. She believes in the power of reading, aspiring to help others recognize the value of narratives in equipping us to better understand the world and become better people. In her free time she enjoys rock climbing, visiting art museums, or discovering whatever her next adventure might be.