Easy Online Volunteering Opportunities for Seniors

Hannah Kaye, MSW, LCSW, a Behavioral Health Specialist at our Triad, NC practices shares easy online volunteer opportunities for seniors to keep your mind active while staying safe from COVID-19.

Volunteering does not have to be a huge time commitment. However, it is something that can help you give back and find meaning during these challenging times. Here are a few organizations that have online volunteering opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plus, they require less than four hours a week of commitment! Most of these volunteer jobs require you to have a phone and a computer.

Learn more about online volunteering opportunities you can get involved with:

• StoriiTime is a free volunteering opportunity designed directly for seniors. Volunteer by reading books to children through a video call.
• Be My Eyes is a free app you can download. Visually impaired users can request help with identifying things. Requests vary, such as helping them pick out a can of soup or asking you to read something. You can get a request at any time and most requests take 2-5 minutes to complete.  Available for Android and iOS products.

• Selfhelp VSC is an organization that provides group classes to seniors who are homebound. You can apply to be a volunteer group facilitator and teach a class about something you are passionate about, such as art, music or cooking.
• Learn To Be is a nonprofit connecting underserved students to volunteer tutors. Your time commitment could be as little as an hour a week. Meet a student and their family, schedule a time that works best for both of you and help them learn. 
• Crisis Text Line provides good listeners the chance to volunteer and provide a friendly listening ear over text. Become a Crisis Counselor and help calm people who are in a crisis. The time commitment is four hours each week.  

• Smithsonian Digital Volunteers can help the Smithsonian Institution categorize data and participate in a variety of research programs. This is a great opportunity for any science or nature lover.  
• Volunteer Match is a website containing a list of hundreds of virtual volunteer opportunities from all over the world. Volunteer opportunities include everything from hospice calls to being an online violin tutor. 

We encourage our patients to volunteer and give back to their communities any way they can, while staying safe. COVID-19 is still very present in our communities and it’s important you continue to take precautions to protect yourself and others. For more information on COVID-19, check out “Coronavirus vs Flu: Important Facts and Differences.”

This article was originally published on November 2nd, 2020.

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