By Hannah Frazier
Helping the planet is more important than ever during this time. There are many ways to volunteer from home and make the world a better place in the process.
Making things for certain groups of people is a great way to volunteer from home. St. Vincent de Paul is an amazing organization that helps people in need to get food, housing, clothing, and other necessities. One way to contribute from home is to make activity books and placemats to be given out to homeless children with their meals. Mrs. Moffitt loves this opportunity. She says, “The volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul love giving out our students’ positivity cards with meals. Our students have made positivity cards with uplifting handwritten messages and beautiful artwork. These cards can really brighten the day for those experiencing severe troubles and homelessness. And since St. Vincent de Paul serves about 400 meals at a time, there is always a need and great appreciation for those positivity cards!”
Making cards for the homeless is a great way to volunteer too. You could also make cards for veterans to thank them for their service. Email Mrs. Moffitt if you are interested in making these items and she will deliver them to the designated location after they have been dropped off at Tempe Prep.
Love for the Elderly is an incredible organization in Cleveland which allows people to write letters to seniors to raise their spirits. If you would like to look into this opportunity, visit the Love for the Elderly website for more information such as the guidelines and the address to send your cards to.
Sophomore Theresa O’Connor found an amazing opportunity making friendship bracelets for health care workers in Illinois. She attached notes of gratitude to the bracelets. On the JCC Chicago website, there is a list of different Chicago-area hospitals you may send bracelets to. This is a fantastic way to volunteer because these health care workers are risking their health helping others during this pandemic.
Theresa also did great work for Lost our Homes and the Saving One Life pet shelters. Lost our Homes offered her the opportunity to draw portraits of pets of donors and Saving One Life had her pick up items to assemble adoption folders. If you are interested in volunteering at pet shelters, visit their websites to get involved.
Junior Nishat Ahmed has been volunteering to fight hunger in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Hunger Front (BHF) is a nonprofit organization that provides rural villages in Bangladesh with food. Some volunteer opportunities are making flyers, passing out flyers, creating posts for social media, writing articles about issues in Bangladesh, writing emails to donors, writing thank you notes to donors, and researching hunger in the areas which BHF is campaigning in. Volunteers do whatever they can to help the organization.
Nishat says, “I chose to start Bangladesh Hunger Front because I think hunger is an extremely prevalent issue in Bangladesh and I had the ability to effectively help as I have contacts in various areas. COVID-19 is worsening the situation. I thought it was imperative to help as soon as possible.” She says that the pandemic is causing many people to suffer and thus, volunteering is more important than ever. This is an extremely meaningful way to volunteer during this time and it is so inspiring to see a student helping people across the globe.
A fun, easy way to do service independently is painting rocks and leaving them on doorsteps around your neighborhood. You could also pick up trash at local parks. Mrs. Moffit says, “There are so many amazing service opportunities that students can still do during COVID, from yard work and grocery shopping for an elderly neighbor to meaningful service activities from home.” To do the yard work, post some flyers around your neighborhood offering your service. Make sure to wear gloves and a mask for all of these opportunities!
If you are comfortable with volunteering outside of your home, you might consider volunteering at a food bank. Many food banks are still open and desperately need volunteers during this time. Mrs. Moffitt recommends United Food Bank, ICM Food and Clothing Bank, and St. Mary’s Food Bank. Again, remember to wear your mask and gloves!
For virtual opportunities, TeensVolunteer.org is a fantastic website to discover volunteer work. Some interesting opportunities are offered from the organization Words Alive. Words Alive allows volunteers to virtually read books to kids. Check out their website for more information.
The app Be My Eyes is also a really rewarding opportunity. The app connects low vision and blind people with sighted volunteers through a video call to help them complete small tasks that they may need help with if no one else is around. These are ways to volunteer with kindness that can brighten the lives of all sorts of people.
There are also some ways you can volunteer for TPA during this time. Many Tempe Prep students are involved in Teen Court. This is a really unique experience that you can earn hours for. Students can join a jury and help decide a punishment for high school students who have committed a minor crime. You can sign up for a certain position on the jury through X2VOL after filling out an application form and looking over the script to stick to when asking questions, which can both be found on X2VOL as well.
Another opportunity for students with good grades is becoming a peer tutor. If you want to help other students at TPA with certain concepts that they are struggling with, it is often helpful to hear them explained by another student. Reach out to Mrs. Melton if you are interested in becoming a tutor, have good grades, and want to share your knowledge with your fellow students. For other opportunities offered by TPA, make sure to check X2VOL regularly.
It cannot be stressed enough how important volunteer work can be. Volunteering is kindness, selflessness, and hope to people (and animals) in need. Helping others matters during a pandemic more than ever. That is why now is the time to be actively working to brighten someone’s day. There are so many more opportunities out there. Make sure to always be on the lookout for ways to help. Some people might feel as though they are powerless during this time, but every small act of kindness matters and volunteers can make a big difference.