Volunteer Opportunities Where You Can Make a Difference with
Little-to-No Contact
Volunteer Solutions (Alexandria & Falls Church, VA)
Food Distribution Events
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue and its Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is recruiting volunteers to help distribute food supplies to vulnerable populations in Fairfax County. The next event takes place at the Gerry Hyland Government Center (South County) on
Thursday, July 30
. The following event is at Falls Church High School on
Thursday, August 6
. There will be additional dates in August as well! Reserve your volunteer spot.
Volunteers will need to be able to safely lift boxes of food weighing 15-20 pounds each. Some type of mask or face covering and gloves are required, and please keep social distancing best practices in mind throughout the day.
Shepherd's Center Serving Oakton-Vienna-Reston-Herndon
Medical and Companion Volunteer Drivers Needed
Shepherd's Center Volunteer Drivers provide transportation to adults 55+ to medical or companion appointments. These medical appointments and errands, such as grocery shopping or the bank, are contactless.
We require all volunteer drivers and transportation clients to wear a mask and gloves and the transportation client to be seated in the back seat of the vehicle for physical distancing. The volunteer driver will not accompany the transportation client into a building. All transportation clients are dropped and collected at the entrance of the appointment or errand and the windows are ajar in the vehicle.
Cornerstones (Reston, VA)
Low-Risk Outdoor Activity
--Volunteers needed for a donation drive collection point at Reston National Golf Course, 1875 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20190. Shifts are Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. --1:00 p.m. and from 1:00 p.m.--4:00 p.m. Duties may include:
- Set up/take down of pop-up tent and signage,
- Greet donors as they drive up to drop off donations of personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, school supplies and backpacks. (Following social distancing guidelines)
- Receive donations and store them in the Cornerstones van.
- Issue donation receipts.
- Make up small PPE kits using donations received for future distribution to families. (August)
Volunteers should dress for the weather, wear comfortable shoes, bring and wear their own mask, gloves, and needed personal protective supplies. Bring bottled water and snacks. Expect donor traffic levels to vary from slow to moderate, depending on the weather and response to social media and other advertising of the event. All volunteers will be required to fill out a COVID19 screening questionnaire prior to their shift, so please arrive a little early to complete the document.
Due to the current situation, we are asking volunteers who are age 65 and over, and/or who have underlying medical conditions that put them at greater risk, to please self-select out of volunteering at this time.
571-323-3675 for more information and to sign up.
United Community (Alexandria, VA)
Early Morning Volunteers Needed
We need you to donate your time and muscle a couple of mornings a week. We are fortunate to have donations on a daily basis that we pick-up from our local supermarket partners. Our need is to have reliable people to help us in the mornings. Utilizing our small box truck and retrieve the donations from our supermarket and food partners around the Alexandria area.
The job starts at approximately 7am and runs for an estimated 3 hours daily. You would have to have a clean license and be a morning person.
We would like to find several people that have free morning time so they would be able to rotate the days. It would be Monday through Friday. No weekends or Holidays. Let me tell you a little about us.
We are United Community, our mission is to empower our neighbors in need to transform their lives. We aspire to end multi-generational poverty. Covid-19 has tripled the need for food at our pantry. In our community, racial and social inequity continue to be the greatest obstacles to both. Let's work together to break down those obstacles in our neighborhood.
Job Type: Part-time
Schedule: Monday to Friday
COVID-19 considerations:
You would be required to wear a mask when you entered any supermarkets and our employees always practice a high level of CDC standards.
Work Location: Multiple locations
This Job Is Ideal for Someone Who Is:
- Dependable -- more reliable than spontaneous
- People-oriented -- enjoys interacting with people and working on group projects
This Company Describes Its Culture as:
- Stable -- traditional, stable, strong processes
- People-oriented -- supportive and fairness-focused
Green Spring Gardens Opportunities (Alexandria/Lincolnia, VA)
Gardener
Join Green Spring Gardeners, we are blooming all the time.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Park Authority at this time. In working to ensure everyone's safety, we are following CDC guidelines including maintaining six-feet social distancing, wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain and limiting groups. If you are not feeling well, please stay home! There will be new sign-in/sign-out procedures, so please work with your site contact to learn the new process.
Farmers Market Manager
Are you a local food enthusiast? Love the outdoors and don't like being tied to a desk? Would you like to help bring fresh, healthy, local produce to your community? Are you interested in supporting local farmers/producers?
Then this volunteer opportunity is for you!
It's time to beef up your resume and put your career skills to work. Join our team of volunteer Market Managers at the Fairfax County Farmers Markets.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Park Authority at this time. In working to ensure everyone's safety, we are following CDC guidelines including maintaining six-feet social distancing, wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain and limiting groups to 10 or less people. If you are not feeling well, please stay home! There will be new sign-in/sign-out procedures, so please work with your site contact to learn the new process.
New Hope Housing (Alexandria, VA)
Preparing Bagged Lunches for Shelters
New Hope Housing needs additional sandwiches or bag lunches for homeless adults at Kennedy Shelter, Bailey's Shelter, and alternate shelter sites during the pandemic!
Depending on your capacity to help, here are some options:
1. Make Sandwiches
2. Make bag Lunches
Interested volunteers will need to complete a volunteer application and sign up for a phone orientation.
***You will need to purchase the items and food yourself.***
Virtual Volunteering Opportunity – Virtual Mentor
You can now sign up to become a virtual mentor for guests in shelter. You will share the topics that you are comfortable speaking with guests one-on-one about (including employment, housing, or just providing a safe space to chat) and will be able to sign up for 30-minute sessions. The calls will be over Zoom, so access to internet and a device that can use Zoom is essential.
To sign up for this opportunity, we are requiring that volunteers join us for a virtual training session. We will discuss the volunteer opportunity and expectations, as well as have a short training on trauma-informed care. You are not committed to volunteering following the training, but you must complete the training prior to signing up for this opportunity. Please note, you must be 18 years or older to volunteer in this capacity.
Virtual Volunteer Opportunity – Virtual Bingo Night Hosts
In addition to virtual mentors, we are also looking for individuals, families, and small groups to host virtual bingo nights at our shelters! Thanks to our wonderful volunteer, Kristin, and her family and friends, we hosted virtual bingo at RPC a few weeks ago and it was a hit! We’re looking to host it at other sites as well as RPC.
Bingo nights are a night of fun for our guests and volunteers. Bingo nights are hosted on mutual agreeable nights, typically starting at 6:30 and lasting for about an hour. Volunteers will connect via Zoom and call numbers for guests at the shelter! We found a free Bingo number generator online.
Volunteers are expected to drop off snacks (individually packaged water and items like chips or candy) and small prizes for game winners ($5-10 gift cards or other useful gifts) prior to the Bingo night. If there are multiple people in your family or small group, we can provide Bingo cards for your family to play too!
Mondloch House Meal Provider
Description of Role: Provide dinner for eight adults at New Hope Housing’s Mondloch House, a shelter for 8 chronically homeless adults. A nutritious meal is to be dropped off by 5:00 p.m., either hot or ready to be heated, homemade, or from a restaurant. Please use disposable pans/serving dishes. The meal should be balanced and enough for eight adults. NHH is an EOE/ADA that values diversity!
Primary Responsibilities: • Drop off a balanced meal that serves 8 at Mondloch House • If desired, stay and spend time with clients while they eat (please note, Mondloch House is for individuals with mental health disabilities and are not always able to interact with volunteers)
Skills Needed: • Friendly, positive demeanor • Ability to commit to dropping off a meal once a month
Desired Experience: • None! Simply a willingness to support New Hope Housing’s clients
Time commitment: Meals should be dropped off by 5:00 p.m. (may be earlier, but please provide re-heating instructions). We ask for volunteers to commit to at least one day a month for three months.
Requirements: Volunteers should attend a volunteer orientation, held twice monthly at the New Hope Housing Admin Office. Volunteers will need to have signed Confidentiality, Liability, and Photo Release forms on file with the Volunteer Coordinator. There is no age limit for volunteers.
Location: 3510 Lockheed Blvd, Alexandria, VA 22306
**Must provide your own food and supplies. This is a
contactless
delivery***
Food For Others (Fairfax, VA)
Warehouse Volunteers
The warehouse is the heart of our operation. This is where all of our food donations are stored and where volunteers and staff members sort, package and distribute USDA and emergency food supplies directly to our clients. The warehouse is high energy, full of activity and a great place to roll up your sleeves and make a difference!
Warehouse Volunteer Info:
- Volunteer shifts are Monday-Friday.
- We are closed on the weekends.
- Volunteers must be at least 12 years of age.
- Children ages 12-15 must be accompanied by an adult.
- Individuals MUST sign up in advance and be on our schedule to volunteer.
No walk-ins please!
- Volunteers must be able to perform lightweight lifting and be on their feet.
- All volunteers must wear closed toe shoes. NO EXCEPTIONS! Know that you will be sent home if you do not have the correct footwear.
- No cell phones or ear buds while working in the warehouse, for safety reasons.
- Please don’t bring valuables with you.
- The warehouse is not climate controlled, please dress according to the weather outside.
Food Distributor/Ticket Puller
This volunteer position involves gathering a client's food together after they have completed the intake process and distributing it to them at the loading dock. This is a very physical job. Volunteers will be on their feet, need to be able to lift at least 30 lbs. and feel comfortable interacting with a diverse population. Patience is also important, since the loading dock can get busy at times.
Neighborhood Food Distribution Sites (MOST NEEDED!!!!!)
Food for Others distributes food on weeknights locations throughout Fairfax and Arlington Counties. Volunteers play an integral role in this operation by picking up the food at our warehouse, driving it to the assigned location, and distributing it fairly among the individuals and families who come to receive services. The food is picked up at Food for Others between 5:00-5:30 pm and then distributed between 6:00-6:30 pm.
We have partnered with a number of church and service organizations to provide volunteers for most of our Neighborhood Sites. New volunteers will be added to a substitution list and contacted if a regular volunteer needs to cancel or is on travel.
Neighborhood Site Qualifications:
- Volunteers must be at least 21 years old and have a valid driver’s license
- Must use your own vehicle to transport food
- Must be able to lift crates of produce and non-perishable items
- Must arrive on time to distribute the food
- Ability to treat clients with respect and dignity
- Ability to diffuse difficult situations
Neighborhood Site Tasks:
- Load food from Food for Others warehouse into personal vehicle (between 5:00-5:30 pm)
- Transport food to assigned neighborhood location
- Distribute food in equitable manner (between 6:00-6:30 pm)
- Return crates to warehouse
CRi (Arlington, VA)
Sensory Boards for Residents
Sensory boards can help individuals with mental health needs, such as autism, & developmental disabilities work on directing their focus & practicing their motor skills. Sensory boards present multiple stimuli that are great outlets for residents & provide tools to staff to encourage continued development while home bound.
How can you help? Find items in your house that you can add to the board that can be a tactile stimulant, make a noise, or be manipulated. This is a great activity to complete with the family & a great way to up-cycle some of the items around the house.
Love Rocks
Have you ever found yourself walking down the street only to have a pop of color catch your eye? What’s that?! A rock. A colorful rock. With something nice on it that just made your day.
This is a great family friendly project to get those creative juices flowing while spreading some kindness & promoting CRi!
Homemade Masks Needed
Some of the individuals CRi supports are some of our community’s most vulnerable, and as such, are in dire need of homemade masks. If you are able to sew, please consider making masks for CRi residents and direct support professionals.
Show Direct Support Professionals Some Love
The Direct Support Professional acts as a mentor, teacher, and support to individuals with intellectual and other types of developmental disabilities to assist them to live, learn and work successfully as an active part of their communities.
With COVID-19, our DSPs can add “Virus Warriors” to their list of responsibilities. They are diligently working around the clock to keep those residing in our group homes safe. Not only are our DSPs maintaining the safety of our residents, but they are also now working twice as hard to establish a new normal for those whose lives depend on routine.
Please considering sending a kindness card to our DSPs to show that their hard work is appreciated and they are not forgotten as essential workers during this crisis. CRi has over 500 staff supporting over 300 residents within our group homes and 600 more within the community.
