Good Morning Prince William - as we go through this "new normal" of Coronavirus, we thought it would be good to share the volunteer opportunities that are available to those who want to help during this outbreak. For the latest information on the Coronavirus, please continue to visit www.cdc.gov/covid19 and Prince William Emergency Information at https://emergency.pwcgov.org/.
- As our communities face the unusual circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic, many individuals would like to volunteer to help in some way. Volunteer Prince William is designated by Prince William County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park to provide coordination of unaffiliated volunteers during emergency declarations. If you would like to be contacted to help during the COVID 19 outbreak, please register on our website by clicking SIGN UP in the top right-hand corner (blue box) at VolunteerPrinceWilliam.org. When you are completing your registration form be sure to check the box that asks if you wish to receive a disaster notification. If you are already registered as a volunteer on our Volunteer Prince William website, please log in to edit your user profile and check the box to indicate you wish to receive a disaster notification. When we receive requests for volunteers in the greater Prince William area we will send emails out to those volunteers who have indicated they want to receive a disaster notification and will include instructions on what to do if you are interested in volunteering to help meet that request. It may be a bit of a process and may also include a liability waiver form. Please contact Bonnie for more information at 703.369.5292, ext. 3, email bnahas@volunteerprincewilliam.org.
- ACTS needs volunteers in their Hunger Prevention Center weekdays for morning (9:30am-11:30am) and afternoon shifts (12:30pm-3pm) to prep grocery bags and distribute groceries. Volunteers must complete and submit the online volunteer application found at actspwc.org prior to volunteering. Please contact Shirley at scouteau@actspwc.org or call 703.441.8606 ext. 212 for more information.
- House of Mercy is still accepting donations of nonperishable items for their food pantry so they can continue food assistance to needy families during COVID-19. Please email scrooks@houseofmercyva.org to learn more.
- Prince William Food Rescue has a great opportunity for those who are healthy and want to get out of the house while still practicing social distancing. Become a Food Rescue Hero! Have the kids ride along, slap on some gloves and rescue some food. Pick-up and drop-off with minimal interaction. Search Prince William Food Rescue your smartphone's app store, download the app and create a profile-you can start rescuing food right away! Please visit https://pwfoodrescue.org/ for more information.
- SERVE needs volunteers in the Hunger Resource Center to assist with assembling food packages to distribute to clients who face food insecurity. Minimal client contact involved as volunteers will just pack up the food and take the food to the clients' vehicles for them to load in. If you're healthy, are not a part of the identified high-risk groups, and are comfortable leaving your home at this time, they would love to have you-even just one volunteer shift helps! Interested volunteers should visit https://nvfs.volunteerhub.com/ and create an account. Once they have created an account, they can sign up for HRC Warehouse Volunteers & HRC Warehouse Volunteers Short-Term Shifts. Please email ncannon@nvfs.org to learn more.
- SERVE also urgently needs volunteer groups (6-8 people) to provide weekend meals for shelter guests. They have recently experienced some cancellations due to COVID-19. Individuals and groups that are interested in providing a meal can do all of the preparation in the comfort of their own home and drop off the meal in advance. Please contact Julie Martinez, jrmartinez@nvfs.org or 571.748.2674, for more information.
If you are looking for other opportunities, please don't forget to call our wonderful team at Volunteer Prince William at 703.369.5292. You can also visit our website at www.volunteerprincewilliam.org. Thanks so much for all you do in our community.
