Many things have changed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; volunteering at nonprofits has changed drastically. In the past, the LAA has relied on many in-person volunteers on a daily basis: for monitoring waiting and reception areas, administrative tasks like stuffing envelopes, providing event support and many others. Just as operational changes have taken place across the organization, so have the roles and activities of volunteers.

This spring the LAA has hosted approximately 28 volunteers across all of our departments both on-site and remotely. We had additional volunteers at food drives, vaccination drives, and virtually for events and internships.

Georgia State University master of public health student and Mexican primary care physician, Xochitl Zavala, interned at the LAA during the 2020 spring semester with our Family Stabilization and Well-Being department. She reached out to the LAA to intern there because of the ways that the LAA addresses the needs of the Latino community like food insecurity, financial assistance, and improving access to health programs and services. Xochitl has been working hard this winter and spring not only assisting in day-to-day operations at the LAA, but in developing a survey to assess the barriers that Latinos face accessing the vaccine. This month Xochitl received the approval of Georgia State’s Institutional Review Board and has begun administering her survey to clients via phone.

Jose Vargas is also a student at Georgia State, completing his master’s degree in social work. Jose has been interning with the LAA since August 2020 and largely overseeing the volunteer coordination efforts in his role. While Jose has found the role challenging during the pandemic, he has also found the role rewarding. “Generally, I am surprised at how much people want to help,” said Jose. “When COVID [felt] very real back in the fall, volunteers risked their lives to come here. That’s incredible.”

Gina Piazza is an economics major and senior at Georgia Tech. She has been volunteering in our Family Stabilization and Well-Being department since January 2021. She took many intake phone calls for the department at the beginning of the year. Then our food pantry re-opened and Gina has largely worked with the organization, packing food for clients on food distribution Thursdays. “[Volunteering at the LAA] has helped me put COVID into perspective,” said Gina, “Yes, it’s a virus and health issue, but it’s causing food insecurity and personal financial hardship in a lot of communities.” Gina came to volunteer at the LAA to keep up her Spanish, but has been so glad that she can give back in a capacity where she’s addressing large-scale issues like food insecurity in a small, but meaningful way.

If you would like to sign up to volunteer with the LAA in any capacity, you can do so here.