In-Person & Remote Volunteering Opportunities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Be My Eyes: This website contains information on a free app that connects blind and low-vision individuals with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call.
Bookshare: Contribute your skills and passions to help people with print disabilities read. From scanning and proofreading, to describing images, to providing support for Bookshare® teachers and families.
COVID BAIL OUT NYC: Volunteers needed who are willing and able to post bail and provide post-release support for incarcerated individuals from Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Queens Detention Centers.
COVID-19 Resources Translated: This website aggregates new and existing printable documents for New Yorkers whose primary language is not English and seeks volunteers who can translate, making the documents accessible for several populations.
Invisible Hands: A non-profit organization delivering groceries and other essential items to populations especially vulnerable to COVID-19. Powered by volunteers, IH has completed thousands of contactless deliveries in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
LibriVox: At Librivox, volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain into digital audio (eg. Mp3), and then make the audio files available to the world, for free.
Meals on Wheels: A leadership organization supporting more than 5,000 community-based programs across the country that are dedicated to addressing senior isolation and hunger. This network serves virtually every community in America and, along with more than two million staff and volunteers, delivers the nutritious meals, friendly visits, and safety checks that enable America’s seniors to live nourished lives with independence and dignity.
Mutual Aid NYC: A network connecting individuals with mutual aid teams across NYC for both in-person and virtual volunteering.
New York Cares: An organization that meets pressing community needs by mobilizing caring New Yorkers in volunteer service both virtually and in-person.
NYC Department for the Aging: A New York City department connecting older New Yorkers with friendly volunteers to talk over the phone via the Seniors Friendly Visiting Program.
NYC Service COVID-19 Response Efforts: Stay connected through the NYC Service community-based organization mailing list, and sign up to be alerted of upcoming volunteer trainings.
SAGEConnect: A volunteer effort to combat social isolation for LGBT Elders. Those interested in participating can sign up on via the website. Volunteers will be screened and offered training before receiving their match and must commit to a minimum of one fifteen-minute call per week, for a period of six weeks.
Selfhelp Queens North Friendly Visiting: A program that matches homebound seniors with volunteers in the community who make weekly visits in the seniors’ homes.
Volunteer Match: A hub of in-person and virtual volunteering positions that match volunteers with nonprofits to achieve remarkable outcomes.