COVID-19 Hands On Community Support Resources
During this unprecedented time of change to our community we want to continue providing ways to support our nonprofit partners. We will be updating this list of organization's needs, many of which are financial support and item donations.
Hands On partners supporting People who are Homebound or Unhoused:
Meals on Wheels
Volunteer needs: Yes - sign up here: https://mowp.volunteerhub.com/.
Donation needs: Yes - view items needed here: https://www.mowp.org/donate/.
Blanchet House
Volunteer needs: Yes - sign up here: https://blanchethouse.org/volunteer/.
Donation needs: Yes - view items needed here: https://blanchethouse.org/waystodonate/.
P:ear
Volunteer needs: We are serving 150+ to-go meals per day and are seeking volunteer help to continue to meet the needs of Portland's homeless youth. To sign up to provide food for at least 125 people (or donate food items to supplement our bagged meals) on a day that works well for you, please visit https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/1wgw6q.
Donation needs: You can support our youth by donating funds through our website https://www.pearmentor.org/donate/ and inviting your communities to do the same. Drop off homemade baked goods or any food/supply items listed on our webpage https://www.pearmentor.org/covid/.
Most-needed food items:
- Granola Bars
- Bagged fruit / veggie packs
- Fruit (pears, apples, tangerines, and bagged grapes tend to serve us well in this capacity)
- Juice Boxes
- Deli meats
- Cheese
- Baked Goods (homemade is okay!)
- Chips
Other needed items (non-food):
- Tarps
- Tents
- Sleeping Bags
- Blankets
- Backpacks
- Gloves
- Masks
- Multivitamins (preferably gummies)
Q Center
Volunteer needs: Not at this time. You can sign up to be on their list and will be notified when volunteer opportunities happen: https://www.pdxqcenter.org/volunteer
Donation needs: Not at this time.
Operation Nightwatch
Volunteer needs: Yes - sign up here: View upcoming Operation Nightwatch volunteer shifts.
Donation needs: Yes - below is the list of food supplies we need at this time:
- sweatpants
- leggings
- loungewear
- underwear
If you are able to donate any of these food items or other supplies, please plan to deliver them Thursday, Friday or Saturday from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (1432 SW 13th Ave, Portland, OR 97201).
Store to Door
Volunteer Needs: Sign up to shop for groceries for seniors. The easiest way to get started is to visit our volunteer registration website and select a grocery shopping shift. You can click the link below, create an account, and select a shift that works well with your schedule! We have two locations (Fred Meyer at Hollywood and Beaverton) to support. We provide training at the store and have hand sanitizer or Lysol wipes available to keep volunteers healthy. www.storetodooroforegon.volunteerhub.com
Donation Needs: Make a contribution to Store to Door now so that we can continue to provide critical services to homebound seniors to help keep them nourished and connected through our grocery delivery and friendly visitation service. If you represent a business, consider sponsoring delivery costs for a week or day through our Support-A-Day/Support-A-Week program: https://loom.ly/kwkGyNE
Education: Keep yourself and your loved ones safe by following basic practices to reduce the spread of the virus. Learn the fact about COVID-19 and what you can do: https://loom.ly/a1GA30w
Finally, if you have an idea to assist us that does not neatly fit into the categories above, please contact Mark Fulop, MA, MPH, at 503-200-3333, extension 101.
SnowCap Community Charities
Volunteer needs: Yes - View info and sign up here.
We are suspending our clothing program for the forseeable future, so we would ask that people NOT bring clothing donations to us at this time. However, we would love any food donations of:
- canned proteins (tuna, canned chicken, peanut butter)
- canned vegetables and fruits,
- soap,
- shampoo,
- hand sanitizer,
- baby wipes,
- infant formula and Stage 2 baby foods.
To view our most current list, please visit: https://www.snowcap.org/donate.html
People can bring those donations Monday through Friday, between 9am and 3pm, to the back of SnowCap’s warehouse, located at 17788 SE Pine Street Portland, OR 97233. Contact Nayely Perez at (503) 674-8785 with questions.
Transition Projects
Volunteer Needs: Yes - sign up here: https://www.tprojects.org/volunteer/. Are you a sewer looking to create and donate masks? Visit our mask sewing sign-up page here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-xpI7Ow4dfaD0EPeVG_MmLWP3l4QkhuSp0FOzwFcX7q6Wwg/viewform.
Donation Needs: Yes - the items listed below are our most-needed items, along with anything on this site: https://www.tprojects.org/donate/donate-items.
- Blankets – though spring is around the corner, nights are still cold and many of our neighbors are sleeping outside!
- Bath towels
- Hand sanitizer (large and travel-sized bottles) for clients without regular access to restrooms and hand-washing facilities
- Clorox wipes to help our programs conduct hourly sanitizing of highly-trafficked areas
- Pants (adult sizes for men and women)
- Shoes for men and women, especially boots and sneakers
- Underpants for men and women
- Hygiene items like shampoo, lotion, razors and shaving cream
Volunteer Needs: Friendly Televisitors Needed!
While we're all social distancing to halt the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve, we're no longer able to connect volunteers to homebound seniors for home visits. But, our phones still work just fine! If you can...
Make a commitment of 6 months, in order to foster solid relationship building.
Call your client match up to twice per week (frequency needs may vary from person to person). Clients referred for this service are in need of socialization, so a commitment to regular phone calls is important!
Remotely participate in activities and hobbies, assist with organizing/reading bills and mail (familiarity with Google Hangouts might come in handy here), or just spend time with the client, per client’s and volunteer’s preferences.
Be an extra set of ears for our program when calling a client so that if something changes with the client’s habits (e.g. normally upbeat and suddenly seems despondent) you can alert the program advocate for follow up.
...click here to sign up today!
Additional Volunteer and Donation Needs
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette
Donation Needs: Our Safety Net programs provide critical services for our region's most vulnerable families - including short-term housing assistance, utilities assistance and access to food boxes and pantries. Double your impact today! Thanks to the Robert D. and Marcia H. Randall Charitable Trust, each gift in response to this appeal will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $250,000.
Donate today to help strengthen families in need: https://www.unitedway-pdx.org/
Children's Book Bank
Donation Needs: The CBB is accepting donations for:
-
New and gently used children’s BOARD BOOKS AND PICTURE BOOKS. We are especially excited for inclusive book donations. Check out our donation suggestions here & Supplies Wish List here.
-
Fabric for making tote bags: light cotton to heavier upholstery fabrics, canvas, denim, etc.
-
Any monetary donations are welcome to support our COVID-response projects, click here to learn more.
For any donation questions or to make an appointment.contact: info@childrensbookbank.org
American Red Cross
Volunteer Needs: The Red Cross will be looking for both in-person and remote volunteer support depending on volunteers comfort level.
Donation Needs: In-person needs currently include supporting Blood Drives at our Portland and Vancouver Office, as well as mobile drives in the community. We will also need volunteer drivers to transport blood products from collection sites to our processing center and from the processing center directly to hospitals. In the coming weeks there may be opportunities to help with mass feeding if needed - potentially for students or other individuals that rely on regular meals provided by their institutions, but we are still determining the need.
We also have remote opportunities to help contact prospective and current volunteers to fill our existing needs, as well as contacting blood donors that signed up for drives that were cancelled and try to reschedule them to an active blood drive location. All of the above opportunities exist in Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Clark counties.
Visit our website to support our Blood Drives: https://www.redcross.org/local/oregon.html
Oregon Food Bank
Volunteer Needs:
Group Opportunities
Small groups of 5 can help our partner agencies out in the community. We can only accommodate groups of 5 for social distancing reasons and there is limited space in partner agency facilities. Sharing your time and energy is a powerful way to help others in your community access nutritious food. To search for these offsite opportunities, go to the Oregon Food Bank Volunteer Calendar for more information and to sign up a small group online. Need assistance with group sign-ups, please email us at volunteer@oregonfoodbank.org.
Individual Opportunities
If you are interested in signing up as an individual for a food repack/sort shift at an Oregon Food Bank facility visit the OFB Volunteer Calendar, or to help out in the community, sign up for an Offsite Volunteer Opportunity.
Donation Needs: You can find multiple ways to donate food here: https://www.oregonfoodbank.org/give/donate-food/
Oregon Food Bank gladly accepts nutritious food donations large or small. Whether you are hosting a food drive, need to clean out your pantry, or have a surplus of product, they will responsibly distribute your donations safely and efficiently to families in need across Oregon and Clark County, WA.
Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)
Volunteer Needs: Sign up to be a relief volunteer with them here: bit.ly/jdcovid19volunteer
This list is being compiled by APANO to share with groups and community based organizations that are doing mutual aid work around COVID-19 for neighbors within and adjacent to the Jade District. The Jade District is a neighborhood in SE Portland at the intersection of SE 82nd Ave. and SE Division St.
Donation Needs: Donate to the Jade District Relief Fund for impacted workers at Jade District small businesses, who have been experiencing reduced hours and layoffs for many weeks. Help our community members with immediate needs that can’t wait for other relief to become available.
Voz Workers' Rights Education Project
Donation Needs: At Voz, we serve the most vulnerable and marginalized of workers: older adults, seniors, immigrants and refugees, houseless, and those living with chronic illnesses. Day laborers work in temporary low-wage jobs where they do not have access to sick leave and cannot work remotely. As the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies, we are setting up a preparedness plan that combines education, individual and collective preparedness planning, and access to direct services (including an emergency solidarity fund to ensure worker access to medical care, sick leave, good hygiene, mental health, housing, and food security.)
Donate to the Emergency Solidarity Fund for Day Laborer Workers!
Donation Needs: To support the increased need for emergency supplies at this time please consider a financial contribution: https://www.pdxdiaperbank.org/donate-3/
For a list of drop-off locations for diaper donations, please visit https://www.pdxdiaperbank.org/donate-3/diaper-dropoff-locations/
As an organization, PDX Diaper Bank is experiencing the following impact due to COVID-19:
- 50% increase in community diaper need
- 90% decrease in diaper donations due to the lack of diaper drive events, business closures, and social distancing mandates
- 25% anticipated decrease to our annual budget due to postponing (and possibly cancelling) our 7th annual Dining for Diapers fundraiser
PDX Diaper Bank is doing everything in its power to get critical diapering supplies out to children/families who need them now. Thank you for your support!
Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare
Donation/Volunteer Needs: To help support our community and our essential healthcare workers during this crisis, Cascadia will be coordinating a mask donation project for community members who are willing to get out their sewing machines and create homemade masks! Community members are welcome to create adult-sized masks, donate them to Cascadia, and we will help distribute to healthcare workers our community. Learn more: https://cascadiabhc.org/mask/
Volunteer Needs: No volunteers needed at this time.
Donation Needs: Items in need change weekly - to view an updated list of currently needed items, please visit https://rosehaven.org/helping/donate-supplies/
Volunteer Needs: Our work here at UCP Oregon providing daily supports for those we serve experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities continues. We remain committed to delivering quality care where people live.
To ensure the safety of our Direct Support Professionals and the individuals receiving their care, we need your help. Many people in our community are making their own face masks and we are in crucial need of them. If you want a meaningful home project, making masks will help protect you and possibly provide a life-saving gift for our vulnerable population.
Here is a link to easy directions to make a mask.
Donation Needs: If by chance you have access to an N95 Respirator, please let us know! Our supply of the critical items below are nearly exhausted. Do you may have products to share with us?
Critical Items Needed:
- Hand Sanitizer
- Toilet Paper
- Spray Cleaners with Bleach
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Paper Towels
- N95 Face Masks
- Standard Face Masks
- Hand Soap
- Clorox or Lysol Wipes
Items can be dropped off or mailed to our Main Office located at 305 NE 102nd Avenue, Suite 100, Portland, OR 97220. Currently our front office hours are 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Please call (503) 777-4166 to confirm those times have not changed or with any questions.
If you have a quantity of items you can donate, we may be able to pick them up depending on your location. Please email or call 503-777-4166.
Oregon Child Care Provider Relief
Volunteer Needs: Make an impact during this crisis from your own home. Volunteers with business expertise are needed to helpsmall child care business owners save their livelihood and maintain the child care programs Oregon's economy needs. See key areas of need and a link to volunteer below.
- Volunteers (including non-English speakers) are needed in the following areas:
- Financial management/reporting
- Business lending/banking
- Business planning
- Labor/human resources management
- Legal affairs
- Insurance
- Marketing
Volunteers must be patient and understanding but also enable the provider to act with urgency. Most child care providers have been under tremendous stress during the COVID-19 crisis and some operate with only basic business management systems. In order to survive this economic crisis, they need volunteers who can patiently meet them where they are and take necessary steps to apply for loans and/or other assistance.
Visit this link to offer your service as a volunteer: http://www.orproviderrelief.org/volunteer-form.html
Mother & Child Education Center
Volunteer Needs: Not at this time
Donation Needs: Our capacity to take donations is limited. We are able to accept select items; please call 503-249-5801 to find out if we are able to accept your donations.
They are unable to process and store used items at this time. You can support them financially through their website at www.momchildpdx.org (click the donate now button), by sending a check in the mail, or calling 503-249-5801. You can also consider including Mother & Child in response funding plans – If your work, church, or service group has a COVID-19 response fund or if you are connected with a foundation or grant-making organization, please talk to them about Mother & Child, or email mauraw@momchildpdx.org to connect.
Volunteer Needs: Volunteer Led Coat Drive. We are collecting coats from those interested in donating new or gently used coats for kids ages 5yrs to 17yrs of age.
Our goal is to get a coat into the hands of every child who needs one in our care.
Please see the referral opportunity here.
FOLLOW US!