COLUMBUS, Ohio — United Way of Central Ohio is just one of many nonprofits that saw a decrease in its number of volunteers during the pandemic.
Mary Birchard is the VP of resource development and chief development officer for United Way of Central Ohio. She said between 2019 and 2022, they’ve seen a 60% decline in hours logged by volunteers.
"The retiree demographic is a huge volunteer pool in our community that definitely got a little stifled in the early stages of the pandemic with lockdowns,” Birchard said.
United Way’s Tax Time program is a free tax preparation service for low- and moderate-income households in central Ohio. Birchard said the number of volunteers preparing those tax forms has been cut in half over the last couple years.
"We always have a surplus of need for appointments that we're not able to meet because we don't have the number of volunteers needed to fill those appointment slots. So the more folks we can get trained and ready to be tax preparers through that program, the more direct impact we're able to have on the folks we serve,” Birchard said.
Birchard said they also lost a lot of their corporate volunteers that would frequently volunteer as a group. But now, she said they’re slowly starting to work their way back.
"We're seeing some return to volunteerism that's really encouraging but certainly could always use more,” Birchard said.
Meanwhile, organizations like the Mid-Ohio Market at Heart have seen their pool of volunteers ebb and flow the last couple years as well.
"We need help with stocking shelves, with unloading the trucks, we need help bagging produce… I feel like the need for volunteers has grown," Vanessa Amoroso, volunteer services coordinator at Mid-Ohio Market at Heart, said.
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective provides the market with all the items it offers. Amoroso said she sees the need in the community firsthand.
"We're seeing people come in and volunteer it’s just we constantly need more,” Amoroso said.
The market is open to its neighbors four days a week and serves about 1,500 families every week.
Michele Hamsher said she decided to start volunteering at the market at the start of the pandemic.
"It’s a very rewarding experience… the staff here, the volunteers here are very upbeat, I just love the smiles and appreciation our neighbors have,” Hamsher said.
Birchard of United Way said a decrease in volunteers can in some ways decrease the amount of people they’re able to help in the community, so any amount of time someone can donate to these organizations is always appreciated.
"No matter what the volunteer experience you're doing is, you're going to get more out of it than you give,” Birchard said.