Community Service Struggling in the midst of COVID-19 Pandemic

Transitioning from national shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has globally affected community service and left volunteers confused on the next steps in getting back to normal.

A study that was released by Fidelity Charitable, a public charity that globally distributes funds to other charities, reports that about two-thirds of people who want to volunteer do not know where to find virtual volunteer opportunities. In addition, two-thirds of volunteers have decreased or completely stopped volunteering during the pandemic.

James Madison University strives to maintain the connection between students and the community through volunteer work by providing resources such as many service-oriented clubs and the center for Community Service-Learning.

College Mentors for Kids is a national organization with a chapter at JMU that offers local elementary-aged children the opportunity to be mentored by college students individually to create valuable connections, teach about fiscal responsibility, build a community, and use teamwork to achieve goals.

“COVID-19 has definitely affected our organization. The number of mentors we actively have now has definitely dropped, but we also understand it can be difficult to be a part of an organization that has been struggling to do activities in-person,” Vice President of Activity Planning Ellen Franzen said. “However, in the spring semester, we are looking forward to bringing back in-person activities.”

Another way to explore volunteering opportunities is through Community Service-Learning, located in the Student Success Center at JMU. This resource motivates students to connect with local nonprofits and operates the alternative break program. Steve Grande, director of Community Service-Learning, expressed the difficulty of gaining more student volunteers and the struggles of communicating with local nonprofits during the midsts of COVID.

“We’ve seen things in the extremes. We have seen students who are more passionate about making change and community partners who are ready,” Grande said. “On the other end, the challenge has been, I think, some students are struggling to just engage, to get involved. It’s understandable, but we are trying to figure out how to change our approach to make things easier and more accessible for students.”

Sage Miller, a senior at JMU, started working at Community Service-Learning in May. She described this experience as amazing with everyone being welcoming and available to answer any of her questions. However, like many community service organizations, COVID has caused stress.

“COVID-19 limited my options greatly. I could only do remote volunteering or had to search for volunteer opportunities. My service organization went online completely for a year and now we have both in-person and online volunteer opportunities,” Miller said.

ARROW, a local nonprofit organization, works closely with Community Service-Learning to better involve students with the purpose to enhance resilience, empowerment, and self-advocacy within their community by expanding mental health treatment opportunities.

“As far as the pandemic, it has been for us as an organization a touchstone in ‘showing up for the community.’ It has been a long, and arduous journey but it has been nothing short of a blessing for us in terms of our mission and vision,” Executive Director Sabrina Burress said.

Despite the difficulties, the leaders of community service organizations are eager to offer advice on how to get started volunteering during this transition time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s important to be as open as possible and realize that we have this perception that doing service is going to be this really deep and meaningful experience and often it is, but it doesn’t always happen right away,” Grande said. “My recommendation is to learn what you can from the experience. See what it tells you and surely you will take away so many lessons.”