Work may have ground to a halt or a slow trickle, and online learning might be filling half-days for kids and college students, leaving most of us with extra time on our hands right now. Finding things to do away from mindless binge-watching takes some effort and planning. Volunteering remotely is one way we can fill some of our time and be productive and useful. For high school and college students and the newly unemployed, the added perk is it could turn into a resume addition. Employers like to hire people who are motivated and engaged, and some volunteer opportunities can actually sharpen your skills and boost your resume. Here are some avenues to explore:
 
Rifle Paper Co. has free downloadable cards that you can print at home, color, cut and send to frontline workers who are risking their health to keep us safe. You could even pair the card with a small bag of sweet treats, gift cards to local stores, or healthy protein or granola bars.
 
Send cards  to seniors or to our military.
Doing Good Together has many other “kitchen table” ideas as well – things that can be made or created by kids at the kitchen table, such as friendship bracelets or printed awards for grocery store employees, mail carriers, medical professionals, etc. Making no-sew fleece blankets to donate to homeless shelters or foster care organizations is another idea.
 
Best Buddies
Best Buddies International pairs students and adults with individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities to create supportive friendships and mentoring relationships. You can sign up to be an e-Buddie and connect virtually with someone in their program.
 
Use your vision and cell phone to assist blind and low-vision people. Be My Eyes pairs sighted volunteers with those in need through a simple phone app.
 
Give Blood
Donating blood saves lives, and many hospitals are reporting critical shortages in donated blood. You can visit Oneblood to find the Big Red Bus or other locations to donate. They are also accepting convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients to use in treating critically ill patients with the virus.
 
Translators without Borders
If you are fluent in another language, you can volunteer with this organization to help with numerous projects, such as translating critical information about COVID-19 to people in your community. One project also involves social media monitoring to help stop misinformation and use the correct info and language that can save lives.
 
Virtual Tutoring
Teensgive.org is one national organization that pairs teens with younger kids, letting them volunteer as tutors virtually through laptops or phones. Upchieve.org allows teens and adults to volunteer as virtual tutors and academic coaches.
 
Virtual Marketing
Catchafire.org has countless projects you can volunteer for that span social media marketing, website development, logo design, creating presentations and brochures and many other tasks for nonprofit organizations around the country.
 
SCORE.org
SCORE helps business owners find mentors who can offer support and advice during the current economic crisis. Winter Park has a wealth of experienced business leaders who could offer their time mentoring new entrepreneurs.
 
7 Cups
Adults can volunteer as a listener and emotional supporter at 7Cups, an online venue that offers online help for people needing to talk and get support or advice. There is an online active listener course to take first before you can volunteer.