Volunteering From Home

In the month of April, Mortar Board celebrates volunteering. However, in these trying times, it can be difficult to volunteer in person. Here are a few ways you can still give the gift of your time virtually.

Map the World
Help map the most vulnerable places in the developing world to help organizations better respond to crises in the area. Missing Maps can train you in mapping and give you causes to map for.

Read Poetry
Leave poetry feedback for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youths and adults with the Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop. Through this program, participants receive the tools and support for an education and the opportunity for creative expression. Learn how to comment and why you should.

Translate Documents
Know another language? Apply to translate documents with Translators Without Borders.

Be Someone’s Eyes
Help the blind and visually impaired by downloading the app Be My Eyes. This app connects the visually impaired with sighted volunteers who assist through live video calls.

Record Audiobooks
Help record audiobooks for books and materials in the public domain. Generally, this means books created prior to 1923. You do not need any prior experience, nor do you need to audition.

Be a Listener
Volunteer as an active listener for people in distress through the app 7 Cups of Tea. After completing a short training, you will be paired with someone to listen to and support.

Provide Emotional Support
Go through a screening and training to provide emotional support via text through Crisis Text Line. Volunteers work four hours a week for a year helping texters dealing with a wide range of issues.

Fight for Human Rights
Scan documents and pictures to help Amnesty International expose human rights violations.

Give Career Advise
Through Career Village, you can answer questions college students ask about different professional fields. All you need is a LinkedIn account.

Work with Data
Help researchers organize their data and experiments by volunteering online with Zooniverse. No training is needed, and it can be done at your own pace. You can choose to work on whatever projects interest you most.

Volunteer your Expertise
Through Catchafire, you can be matched with nonprofits looking for volunteers with your professional skills.

Proofread
Proofread books for Project Gutenberg, a library of over 60,000 free ebooks. Many of these works are older books, for which U.S. copyright has expired.

Share Books
With Book Share, you can either scan or edit books to be added to their collection of books for people with reading disabilities.

Record Documents
Transcribe historical primary documents for the Smithsonian as one of their “volunpeers”!

*This list of virtual volunteer opportunities was compiled by information collected from The Ohio State University’s Honors & Scholars Center and Good Morning America