By Gavin Imes

Due to COVID-19, many of our regular volunteer roles have been paused. If you are at home and wishing for a way to help the world, here is a list of ways you can volunteer your time, donate, and help make a difference! 

Crisis Text Line: 
Crisis Text Line is a free 24/7 national crisis-intervention and counseling service conducted exclusively through SMS text. Volunteers use the nonprofit’s web-based platform to provide emotional support to texters who are dealing with a wide range of issues– bullying, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and more. Prospective volunteers go through screening and a lengthy self-paced training. Once completed, volunteers sign-up to take one four-hour shift each week for a year. 

Smithsonian Digital Volunteer program 
The Smithsonian Digital Volunteer program engages the public in making its collections more accessible. Digital volunteers transcribe historic documents and collection records to facilitate research and preserve these valuable assets for future generations. 

BookShare.Org 
Book Share offers thousands of books to people with reading disabilities. As an online volunteer you can either scan books to be added to the collection or edit books that have been scanned. 

Feeding America COVID-19 Response Fund 
Every dollar raised from the COVID-19 response fund will be used to get food and funds to local food banks across the U.S. 

Freerice  
Freerice is an ad-supported, free-to-play website and mobile application that allows players to donate rice to families in need by playing a multiple-choice quiz game. For every question the user answers correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated via the United Nation’s World Food Programme. A great way to learn something new and make a difference! 

United Nations Volunteers 
If you’re looking to take your online volunteering worldwide, this is the place to start. UNV connects you with organizations working for peace and development in need of skills like research, writing, art, and design. There are already over 12,000 volunteers from 187 countries lending their talents to organizations around the globe. 

There has been a surge in articles listing numerous ways to get involved. Do a quick Google search for “volunteer from home” to learn more and find the opportunity that is right for you!