BTU Volunteer Corps: 3/24/20 Opportunities

Here are volunteer opportunities for today:

• Boston Public Schools
  • TIME SENSITIVE: 20 volunteers are needed tomorrow morning (Wednesday March 25) from 9:00am -12:00 pm to help distribute chromebooks to students.  Volunteers should have a car. All deliveries will be in East Boston and assigned by proximate street addresses. Please sign up here. More specific information will be sent to those who sign up.
  • Many BPS volunteer opportunities including helping at BPS food distribution sites, are now being handled by Boston Cares, a non profit organization whose mission is linking volunteers with service opportunities.  Sign up here https://www.bostoncares.org/bostoncovid19volunteers.   Please note, if you see a request for a registration fee, fees have been waived. Likewise, registration for training sessions has also been waived and you can bypass this step and just sign up for specific shifts.
• Community Opportunities 
  • Volunteers are needed at the Greater Boston Food Bank to help with food sorting at their warehouse for distribution to their partner agencies. The need is high, especially for their programs that support low-income seniors. We are taking extra precautions to ensure the health and safety of our community: https://www.gbfb.org/covid-19-update/. Those who are able, should sign up as individuals here: Individual Volunteering. GBFB personnel will reach out to those who sign up in order to register you for specific shifts. Currently volunteers are needed every Tuesday – Thursday from 9:00am-12:00pm and 1:00-4:00pm indefinitely.

• • Ways to help Boston Healthcare for the Homeless (BHCHP) respond to the COVID-19 crisis:

    • Financial donations to the BHCHP COVID-19 RESPONSE FUND. This is our priority right now as we project incurring upwards of $1,000,000/month in financial losses during our COVID-19 response.  The link to donation to this fund is www.bhchp.org/covid19.  Please contact Sara Pacelle spacelle@bhchp.org with any questions.
    • Essential items donations for needs within the tents and at BMH.  We have set up two Amazon Wish Lists for folks to purchase items and send to us.  Please contact Kira Venturini kventurini@bhchp.org with any questions.
      • Tent Needs: These include supplies needed to create admission kits with basic essentials, as well as snacks and some beverages like juice boxes and Powerade. We weren’t able to include bottled water on this list due to a lack of availability, so we are reaching out to companies.  These items are being shipped to Lisa Nguyen’s attention here at BHCHP.
      • BMH Patient Comfort Needs:These include snacks and supplies to keep patients comfortable and occupied during their stay, especially in isolation. These items are being shipped to Dan Maloney’s attention here at BHCHP.
    • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).  We are in short supply of PPE for our clinicians who are caring for our patients.  If you know of anyone who might be in a position to donate PPE, please contact Colleen Eagan ceagan@bhchp.org with any questions.
    • Patient/Staff Stories around COVID-19.  Finally, we are always looking for inspiring stories to share with our donors, who are truly in awe of our work and love to feel connected through stories. Please contact Katie Dillon kdillon@bhchp.org with any story ideas.
• Virtual Advocacy
  • Donate to the Boston Resiliency Fund. The emerging priorities of the Boston Resiliency Fund are to provide food for children and seniors, technology for remote learning for students, and support to first responders and healthcare workers in the City of Boston. Donate here.

Please know that all activities are purely voluntary and could entail risk. Maintain social distancing and follow public health guidelines as much as possible. Most importantly, if you fall into one of the at risk categories i.e. older or with compromised/chronic health conditions it is critical that you maintain your own health first and contact your medical care provider for guidance if there are any questions at all about your participation in these activities.

Yours,

Liliana + the team