making a difference
Some days, just getting out of bed is a great goal, a big win. I drag myself to the bathroom and squeeze out the dregs of my toothpaste and consider the fact that I might need to go to CVS today or tomorrow. And it feels exhausting. Other days are more hopeful and I run downstairs to greet the dogs and feed them, throw a ball and get to work at my desk. I imagine the dinner I will create tonight for my family. I am energetic and ready to take on the world, even if it’s from the screen of my computer.
We are in the middle of a pandemic, and while many of us are safe at home, there is still struggle. This is novel and trying, and long, with no end date in sight. And this pandemic has brought heartache and loss. But it has also brought incredible love. While each one of us tackles the day differently and in our own way, we are all connected. This crisis has instilled in us a sense of unity and pride and awakened our need to care for our fellow man.
With this in mind, we have compiled a list of ways to do just that: care for our fellow man. (We have also included a section on self-care. Our own oxygen mask goes on first.) Our list encompasses all ages and skill levels and we hope you find it helpful and not overwhelming. And while many organizations are in need of financial support, one of the greatest ways to care and contribute is just by giving thanks. And to stay home and stay safe!!
How Can I Help?
Here is a good place to start: reach out to your loved ones, your parents, your children, your friends, those alone, your neighbors. This may seem obvious, but as the days are added to days are added to days this is more important than ever. Be intentional.
Pray in any way that works for you.
Support your local businesses, legally.
Doing
Want to volunteer your time? There are so many ways to do that, even from your own home. Volunteer Match, Idealist, and Just Serve have created great databases to pair organizations with volunteers. Not quite as user friendly, but the Corporation for National & Community Service has put together a state-by-state listing of state service commissions. Many states have a specific section for COVID-19-related volunteer opportunities.
Meals on Wheels delivers food to our nation’s seniors and many communities are looking for drivers, and animal shelters need volunteers to both foster and help at facilities (Petfinder provides a nationwide listing of animal shelters and rescues by area).
On the Frontline
With or without a medical background, you can help on the frontlines too - get in touch with the Medical Reserve Corps or with Team Rubicon, which has an initiative called Neighbors Helping Neighbors .
Food Banks and Pantries
Food banks and pantries need food and money and volunteers. Feeding America has a really great tool to find your local food bank; once you’ve found the food bank(s) in your area, check their website or give them a call.
In the Fairfield County to New York City corridor, the major food banks are the Connecticut Food Bank (Wallingford, CT), Feeding Westchester (Elmsford, NY), Food Bank for New York City (New York, New York), and City Harvest (New York, New York).
Smaller operations in the Fairfield County area include The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County (Stamford, CT), Neighbor to Neighbor (Greenwich, CT), Person to Person (Darien, CT), the New Canaan Food Pantry (New Canaan, CT),and the Salvation Army Corps Community Center (Norwalk, CT).
Additionally, there are also food banks that provide pet food for families in need; they are STARelief Pet Food Pantry (Stamford, CT) and The Pet Food Pantry Program at the Connecticut Humane Society (Newington, CT).
Giving Blood and COVID-19 Recovered Plasma
Blood donations have dramatically dropped off. If you are able to give, find a local drive in your area through the Red Cross. The Red Cross also needs plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients for the Convalescent Plasma Program. The Red Cross is also looking for volunteers.
New York City Area
If you are in New York City or would like to get involved in that area, New York Cares are the folks to call for general volunteer needs. CityMeals gets food to the city’s elderly. Invisible Hands was started by a Yale student and Yale grad to help get food and prescription delivery primarily for the elderly in the NYC area.
Family Time
Connection and care at any and every age is helpful!
Love for the Elderly has created a program called Letters of Love that delivers letters written by you to our seniors who may be feeling more alone at this time.
Deaconess Health System has created a national database of organizations needing sewn masks, and they also provide a tutorial on how best to make the masks. For face shields, a great tutorial can be found on YouTube on how to construct them, and findthemasks.com is a great resource to find facilities in need of face shields (and masks too!). Masks for Heroes is also another great resource for finding organizations needing face masks and other PPE.
Through Operation Gratitude, you and your children can write letters of gratitude to our heroes on the frontlines, or help to construct care packages or paracord bracelets for those keeping us safe.
Teens In Action
The organization Zoomers to Boomers pairs teens with seniors to help out in a number of cities around the country.
And teens are creating ways to make a difference. One example: two Greenwich, Connecticut teens decided to turn their daily (6 feet apart!) walk into something philanthropic, and on Sunday, April 19, Bella Subramaniam and Heidi Jacobson walked the length of a marathon around Greenwich to raise $5,800 for COVID-19-related efforts at Greenwich Hospital. Well done, girls!
Novel Offerings
Want to try a new way of volunteering? The be my eyes app pairs sighted volunteers with blind people in need of assistance with tasks via a live video call. UPchieve pairs low-income high school students with academic coaches for online tutoring.
Giving
Are you willing and able? If so, do so.
National
From a national level, Feeding America, Food Rescue US, and No Kid Hungry are working tirelessly to feed those adults and children who might otherwise go hungry.
The biggest names in the world of arts, entertainment, and sports have banded together to form the All In Challenge to offer one-of-a-kind experiences and opportunities; 100% of moneys raised will go to America’s Food Fund, Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, and No Kid Hungry.
Local
Giving Compass and National Center for Family Philanthropy have put together a vetted list of COVID-19 funds, searchable by area; Charity Navigator has also done the same.
Providing for Our Front-Line Warriors
One of the most popular ways of giving back these days is to our front-line warriors. You can do so by providing beauty products (lotions, soaps, shampoo, etc.).
Or by providing nourishment. Pizza vs Pandemic is a national organization that coordinates local pizzerias with care facilities needing food, and on the Girl Scouts site, you can donate Girl Scout cookies to medical professionals (is there a better way to say thank you than with a Thin Mint?).
There are also a number of organizations within individual towns that are providing food from local restaurants to care facilities; they are, by area:
· Boston: Off Their Plate
· Boulder: Feed the Frontlines Boulder
· Chicago: Give InKind Meals for Chicago COVID-19 Healthcare Workers, Off Their Plate
· Los Angeles: Off Their Plate, a really great listing of all of the organizations providing food to medical workers
· Marin: Feed the Frontlines Marin
· Miami: Feed the Frontlines Miami
· New Orleans: Krewe of Red Beans
· New York City: Chopt Salad’s Feed the Frontline, Feed the Frontlines NYC, Meals 4 Heroes, Melt Shop’s Melt It Forward, Off Their Plate
· Philadelphia: Off Their Plate
· Pittsburgh: Off Their Plate
· San Francisco: Feed the Frontlines San Francisco, Off Their Plate
· Seattle: Off Their Plate
· Texas: Feed the Frontline Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston)
· Toronto: Feed the Frontlines Toronto
· Washington, DC area (including Virginia suburbs): Feed the Fight, Off Their Plate
Self-Care
We need to take care of ourselves, too, and perhaps that is the best place to close. You made it through another day, sunset to sunset, and that is a big huge win!
Stay home. Stay sane. And here are some of the ways we can do it.
We can tour some of the most storied sites and stately homes around the world, start one of a countless number of jigsaw puzzles online, or learn something new on Coursera for free during this COVID-19 period. Like opera? The Met is offering free nightly screenings of some of its most epic performances. Opera not your thing? The Grammy Awards site is maintaining a continuously updated listing of all of the upcoming free online live-streamed performances from some of today’s biggest artists. Want to check out some of the best workouts and cooking classes online, all for free during COVID? You can do that too. And from one of our readers, down dog is a wonderful yoga app to keep you dog downing at home. Need someone to talk to? These people are pros at doing just that.
In the words of the great Michael Franti,
Some days are better than other days,
But these days, life is better with you.
Some days are better than other days,
But these days, life is better with you.
And when I think about the things that we've been through,
I know just one thing is true, life is better with you.
Together, we’ve got this!