COVID-19
Mission: Our mission is to protect LGBTQ youths from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.
Website: https://www.aliforneycenter.org/covid-19-response/covid-19-caring-for-homeless-youth/
Volunteer form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RTJCKWM
Email: N/A
Phone: 212-222-3427
What volunteers do:
cook meals for homeless LGBTQ youth
provide administrative support
Mission: All Out is a global movement for love and equality. We're mobilizing thousands of people to build a world where no person will have to sacrifice their family or freedom, safety or dignity, because of who they are or who they love. COVID-19 has hit New York with full force and it’s currently raging in our five boroughs. The virus does not discriminate, but its deadly spread across the city is magnifying inequality and injustice. Now, queer people are even more threatened. We know that COVID-19 is most damaging and deadly for the most vulnerable. Some members of our community are at a heightened risk, like LGBT+ refugees, immuno-compromised people, young queer people living with homophobic relatives under lock-down, LGBT+ elders, and many more.
Website: https://www.nyclifeline.weareallout.org/
Volunteer signup: https://allout.org/en/nyc-queer-neighborhood-lifeline-helpers-registration
Email: https://allout.org/en/contact-us
Phone: N/A
What volunteers do:
shop for groceries or other urgent items
walk pets
talk on the phone to help with isolation
help set up technology like videoconferencing
Borough: All
FYI: volunteers must read and agree to follow WHO safety recommendations
Mission: BCS works in neighborhoods impacted by systemic poverty. We strengthen communities by fostering the educational success of children, the leadership development of youth, the employment and housing stability of adults, the advancement of individuals living with disabilities, and the empowerment of seniors and families.
Website: https://wearebcs.org/take-action/volunteer/
Volunteer form: https://a107257.socialsolutionsportal.com/apricot-intake/5fe86615-be67-49eb-91e4-e527f28931fa
Email: info@wearebcs.org
Phone: 718-310-5600
What volunteers do:
mentor and tutor youth
maintain community garden
staff events and workshops
provide resume help and financial literacy support
support the operation of mobile shower buses by distributing soap, shampoo, towels (warmer months) and PPE (year-round)
clean the shower bus between clients
Borough: Brooklyn
Mission: Brooklyn Relief Kitchen at Old First (BRK) is a volunteer-led organization founded by a group of restaurant industry professionals to tackle food insecurity in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic. We prepare fresh cooked meals and provide relief boxes for distribution by our frontline community partners. BRK is an evolving project meeting the varying needs of our New York City community, from our fresh meal program, to individual deliveries when possible, to food pantry drives and more.
Website: http://brooklynreliefkitchen.org/volunteer/
Email: info@brooklynreliefkitchen.org
Phone: N/A
What volunteers do:
prep food
sort donations
deliver food to individuals, groups, and partner sites
graphic design
cook
sanitize
collect donations of food and PPE
fundraise
Borough: Brooklyn
Mission: The Covid-19 virus has presented many challenges to all of us. Unfortunately, not everyone has the resources to meet all of those challenges. Food insecurity is one of the things many of our neighbors are struggle with. Because of this existing food pantries have lines winding around the block. With this in mind the Camp Friendship Youth Program is pulling together a volunteer pop-up food pantry.
Website: http://www.campfriendshipbrooklyn.com/covid19-pop-up-food-pantry
Volunteer signup form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNDxfZwrCL9lXQrot_eKTYVVPTEonC-iXOLUItN6ctzljPAg/viewform
Email: n/a
Phone: 718-965-3695
What volunteers do:
work at Camp Friendship distributing food
pick up food for deliveries
drop off food to seniors and medically compromised community members who are not leaving their homes
cook meals at home that will be portioned out and distributed
FYI: Food distribution is on Tuesdays 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. and Thursdays 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. and is done with social distancing
Borough: Brooklyn
Mission: From day one, City Harvest’s focus has been feeding hungry New Yorkers, neighbors helping neighbors. City Harvest helped start the food rescue movement in 1982 when a group of New Yorkers saw that New York City had an abundance of excess food even while a large number of its residents struggled to feed themselves and their families. We recognized the practical purpose that this surplus food could serve if directed to New Yorkers who needed it, filling the plates of the working mom who had trouble making ends meet at month’s end, the senior in the apartment upstairs living on a fixed income, or the family around the corner coping with a large and unexpected medical bill.
Website: https://cityharvestvolunteers.civicore.com/index.php?section=Individual%20Opportunities&action=calendar
Email: volunteerservices@cityharvest.org
Phone: 646-412-0738
What volunteers do:
pre-pack produce and pantry packs for easy distribution by partner agencies and at Mobile Markets
Mission: DOROT serves as a vital lifeline to thousands of older adults in New York City and Westchester. We’ve created a new Caring Calls program to continue DOROT’s critical work to build social connections between the generations during this global health crisis – a time when face-to-face contact is, unfortunately, no longer a safe option. As you are aware, social isolation can have devastating consequences on one’s health; now more than ever, building community bonds and interacting with others by phone can make a real difference in all our lives.
Website: https://www.dorotusa.org/caring-calls-offers-conversation-and-connection
Volunteer form: https://form.jotform.com/200785012359150
Email: volunteers@dorotusa.org
Phone: 212-769-2859
What volunteers do:
make calls to seniors
FYI:
calls can be any time between 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
commitment 1-2 calls a week for a minimum of four weeks
orientation session required
electronic references required
Mission: Frontline Foods is a grassroots organization that raises money from the community to pay local restaurants to prepare meals for the heroes responding to the COVID-19 crisis. It started with a simple question: How can we help? As it turns out, there were people all over the country asking the same question. And what began as independent efforts with a shared vision has now become a unified movement with a shared mission: Save local restaurants who have been impacted by shelter-in-place orders, while supporting those doing battle on the frontlines.
Website: https://www.frontlinefoods.org/
Volunteer form: https://airtable.com/shrSFCTt5rTg9HlQu
Email: info@frontlinefoods.org
Phone: N/A
What volunteers do:
raise funds
coordinate meal delivery
PR/communications/social media
accounting
administrative help
design
data analytics
IT
Mission: The mission of God’s Love We Deliver is to improve the health and well-being of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses by alleviating hunger and malnutrition. We prepare and deliver nutritious, high-quality meals to people who, because of their illness, are unable to provide or prepare meals for themselves. We also provide illness-specific nutrition education and counseling to our clients, families, care providers and other service organizations. All of our services are provided free to clients without regard to income. God’s Love We Deliver is a non-sectarian organization.
Website: https://glwd.volunteerhub.com/
Email: volunteer@glwd.org
Phone: 212-294-8100
What volunteers do:
food prep
package and label meals
prepare children’s meal kits
deliver meals
emergency meal delivery
FYI:
masks available to all volunteers
volunteer calendar continually updated
access to car helpful for emergency meal delivery
Mission: Founded in 1902 as a settlement house to help New York’s increasing immigrant population adjust to life in a new country, today Greenwich House offers programs in the arts, education and social services that provide thousands of New Yorkers with personal enrichment and cultural experiences.
Website: https://www.greenwichhouse.org/get-involved/
Email: volunteer@greenwichhouse.org
Phone: 212-991-0003
What volunteers do:
make check-in calls to seniors
organize deliveries of meals and essentials
Borough: Manhattan
Mission: Our mission is to support older adults to age successfully in their Brooklyn communities. We believe that older adults are valuable contributing members of their communities, who are entitled to live as independently as possible with dignity and personal choice. We believe that professionally delivered home-based and community-based social services are essential for maintaining the health and wellbeing of older adults. We believe that support for family caregivers is critical in keeping older adults healthy, at home, and connected to family and community. We believe that engaging community volunteers to provide social interaction for their older neighbors contributes to increased health, satisfaction and longevity. We believe that by bringing youth and older adults together in intergenerational programs not only gives youth a knowledge and appreciation of the challenges of aging, but also strengthens the bonds between generations and brightens the lives of older Brooklynites.
Website: https://www.heightsandhills.org/covid-19-volunteer-response/
Volunteer form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdodgsH54AyPqrFDKXmosBUMaTpeBQnnCs4nCYr-o5NNL6hqA/viewform
Email: volunteer@heightsandhills.org
Phone: 718-596-8789 x329
What volunteers do:
phone outreach
deliver hot meals to homebound seniors
deliver emergency food packages to homebound seniors
FYI:
access to a car or bike helpful
looking for speakers of Spanish, Kreyol, Bangla, Russian, Italian and other languages spoken by Brooklyn seniors
Borough: Brooklyn
Mission: Hunger Free NYC is the NYC affiliate of HUNGER FREE AMERICA (formerly known as the New York City Coalition Against Hunger), a nonpartisan, national nonprofit group working to enact the policies and programs needed to end domestic hunger and ensure that all Americans have sufficient access to nutritious food. We are both a direct service and advocacy organization — with each component strengthening the other. As a direct service provider, we assist low-income families obtain aid from government programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — formerly called the Food Stamp program — and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program so that people struggling to pay their bills have access to nutritious food. We also connect families nationwide with private food resources. Because our staff works daily on the front lines of hunger, and because we empower low-income people to speak out on their own behalf, that makes us one of the nation's most effective advocates for improved economic and public policies.
Website: https://www.hungerfreeamerica.org/hunger-free-nyc
Volunteer calendar: https://hungervolunteer.volunteerhub.com/?format=List&filter=140688
Email: info@hungerfreeamerica.org
Phone: 212-825-0028
What volunteers do:
prepare sandwiches
bag lunches
deliver food to community members (at a safe distance)
stock food pantry shelves
conduct food inventory
pack and distribute pantry bags
make deliveries of food and other essentials by car or bicycle
graphic design
accounting
social media
SNAP outreach at farmers’ markets
counsel New Yorkers seeking access to nutrition programs and benefits
FYI:
volunteer calendar is constantly updated
many volunteer tasks can be done from home
social distancing required for on-site volunteering
Gloves, masks and hand sanitizer provided when available
work sites sanitized frequently
volunteers must be 18 or older; at some sites volunteers may not be above 40
training provided to volunteers offering benefit counseling; 6-month commitment to become a benefit counselor
Borough: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens
Mission: While the more fortunate among us have stocked our pantries and prepared to hunker down, millions of New Yorkers can’t afford to even cook dinner tonight. The good news is that New York City has robust food rescue infrastructure, but that infrastructure doesn’t work without volunteers. Our partners tell us that while demand for food is sky high, volunteer turnout is at a record low.
Website: https://www.inittogether.nyc/
Volunteer form: https://inittogethernyc.typeform.com/to/AALGxx
Email: together@lemontreefoods.org
Phone: N/A
What volunteers do:
staff food pantries and food banks
deliver food
FYI:
gloves provided
social distancing observed
please bring sanitizer for yourself if you have it to help conserve supplies
Mission: Invisible Hands is a group of engaged volunteers from communities at the least risk for severe COVID-19 reactions working to bring groceries and supplies to those in high-risk demographics. We’re focused most prominently on the elderly, disabled, and immunocompromised, but are available to help anyone in need.
Website: https://www.invisiblehandsdeliver.com/volunteer
Email: team@invisiblehandsdeliver.org
Phone: 732-639-1579
What volunteers do:
make contactless deliveries of groceries and needed essentials to high-risk New Yorkers
coordinate deliveries (remote work)
talk to recipients on the phone
FYI: You can only perform deliveries if you are feeling healthy, are displaying no symptoms, have not traveled out of the country or come in contact with a sick person in the past 14 days, and have been PRACTICING SOCIAL DISTANCING.
Borough: All
Mission: Masbia Soup Kitchen Network's emergency food programs serve over 2 million meals a year in two main categories. We serve roughly 100,000 hot, sit down dinners to clients at our restaurant like soup kitchens, and the rest in emergency care packages with the equivalent of 9 meals worth of groceries for every member of the family.
Website: https://www.masbia.org/volunteer_signup
Email: info@masbia.org
Phone: 718-972-4446
What volunteers do:
help package food for home delivery
FYI:
volunteer signup form still includes pre-COVID19 volunteering opportunities, which are currently on pause
work can be done with minimal contact; gloves and cleaning supplies provided
Borough: Brooklyn and Queens
Mission: We know masks are key to stopping the spread of the coronavirus. A mask or face covering is also required at all times while you travel with us. So we want to make sure you always have access to one when you need it.
Website: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/mask-force
Email: mask-force-signup@mta.info
Phone: N/A
What volunteers do:
distribute masks to customers and support MTA’s frontline colleagues on trains, buses, and inside stations
FYI:
volunteers wear masks (and Mask Force t-shirts)
must be 18
may not work for a company doing business with or pursuing business with the MTA
shifts are 2.5 hours long
volunteers work in pairs; can sign up with a buddy
Borough: All
Mission: We are a network of groups organizing to provide aid and support in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are everyday New Yorkers working to lift up local organizing, connect people to resources, and build a citywide movement to address this crisis Our members include parents, elders, immigrants, people with disabilities and chronic illness, caregivers, care workers, organizers, advocates, and anyone else who wants to get involved. We are building interdependence through mutual aid. This means we can at the same time be someone who needs care and support as well as who can show up for others. We value, prioritize, and listen to those most vulnerable and those on the frontlines of this crisis. We know that the frontlines include those who are oppressed and struggling under white supremacy, xenophobia, and capitalism, as well as those who are now newly at tremendous risk of pain, suffering, and loss of life.
Website: https://mutualaid.nyc/get-involved/volunteer/
Email: https://mutualaid.nyc/contact/
Phone: N/A
Link above is a citywide application; click on borough/neighborhood names below for specific mutual aid volunteer forms:
Equality for Flatbush (serving Bed-Stuy, Brownsville, Bushwick, Canarsie, Coney Island, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, East New York, Flatbush, Fort Greene, Kensington, Marine Park, and Mill Basin)
What volunteers do:
pick up/deliver groceries and other essentials
pick up/deliver prescriptions
1-on-1 check-ins and social support (phone call, Zoom, etc. to touch base with a neighbor)
provide financial support
translate and interpret in a language other than English
serve as local volunteer coordinators
provide social services guidance (filing for medicare, unemployment, etc)
organize digitally
Depending on mutual-aid group, volunteers may also:
provide childcare or eldercare
flyer the neighborhood
deliver hot meals
walk pets
provide transportation
provide access to WiFi /internet/printer
provide legal information on housing issues
provide ASL interpretation
raise funds
provide social services rapid response (for therapists, case managers, medical workers, lawyers)
research resources
assemble food and supplies for deliveries
cook/prepare food
provide technology/design
provide legal support
do laundry
offer virtual tutoring
sew masks
Borough: All
Mission: As COVID-19 grows and spreads the psychological, emotional, and spiritual toll on New Yorkers who are providing frontlines health work will also grow. Most frontline health workers lack adequate emotional and mental support, and can even feel isolated and stigmatized for their contact with infected populations. We are an emerging network of 1500+ volunteer mental health professionals, spiritual care providers, circle-keepers, and community builders supporting frontline COVID workers during the evolving crisis.
Website: https://www.nyccovidcare.org/offer
Email: nyccovidcare@gmail.com
Phone: N/A
What volunteers do:
provide individual support (counseling, chaplaining, etc.)
facilitate groups or circles
facilitate ritual (e.g. grief rituals)
lead meditation or other stress-reduction techniques
offer trainings (e.g. on COVID, grief and loss, stress reduction)
organize volunteers
FYI:
to volunteer you should be a therapist, counselor, life coach, grief counselor, pastoral care provider, facilitator, community-builder, or trained to work a crisis line
minimum commitment 1-2 hours/week
all meetings will happen by Zoom or telephone; no physical contact
Mission: For 40-plus years, SAGE has worked tirelessly on behalf of LGBT older people. Building off the momentum of the Stonewall uprising and the emerging LGBT civil rights movement, a group of activists came together to ensure that LGBT older people could age with respect and dignity. SAGE formed a network of support for LGBT elders that’s still going and growing today. SAGE is more than just an organization. It’s a movement of loving, caring activists dedicated to providing advocacy, services, and support to older members of the LGBT community. LGBT elders fought— and still fight—for our rights. And we will never stop fighting for theirs.
Website: https://www.sageusa.org/sageconnect/
Email: https://www.sageusa.org/about-us/contact-us/
Phone: 212-741-2247
What volunteers do:
make a weekly 15-minute phone call to an LGBTQ senior
FYI:
calls can be longer or more frequent if volunteer and senior agree
minimum commitment six weeks
languages other than English welcome
Mission: The Neighbor Network matches volunteers with seniors to call in New York City during the COVID-19 crisis. These regular calls help to fight social isolation, connect older New Yorkers with the resources they need, and build relationships that will bring joy and comfort to seniors and volunteers alike.
Website: https://theneighbornetwork.org/p/sign-up
Email: greenwichhouse@theneighbornetwork.org (Manhattan) or wellness@heightsandhills.org
(Brooklyn – put “wellness calls” in subject line)
Phone: 914-573-5526 (Manhattan)
What volunteers do:
make calls to seniors using conversation prompts from StoryCorps Connect.
FYI:
for calls to Brooklyn seniors, volunteers must be 18; for Manhattan seniors, volunteers must by 15.
one-hour Zoom training required. Zoom trainings offered multiple times per week.
minimum commitment: one to two calls per week to each senior
log-in of all calls required
each volunteer matches with one to three seniors
volunteer guide provided
Mission: West Side Federation For Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH) was formed in 1976 by a coalition of social service agencies, religious institutions, and community organizations. Together we worked to create a new form of housing – one that would meet the diverse needs of older people and persons living with special needs. We serve over 2,200 individuals living in 28 buildings across the Upper West Side, Harlem, Chelsea, and the Bronx. The majority of our residents are isolated in their apartments and are unable to go out to secure necessary food, medication, and supplies.
Website: https://www.wsfssh.org/
Volunteer form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeD-LmLSmymaWvzuZiVWPH33A1m5Q1y8V5F3ykEa2ZLupFDGw/viewform
Email: WSFSSHsupport@wsfssh.org
Phone: 212-721-6032, Ext. 1001
What volunteers do:
run errands
create meal/supply packages
deliver meals and care packages to residents
make handwritten cards/notes for residents and staff
FYI:
volunteering will NOT require any face-to-face contact with residents
Borough: Manhattan and the Bronx