GETTING BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS:

Volunteers Make a Difference

By Brian Sherman

 Volunteering is a vital stitch in the fabric of life in the Lowcountry, especially during the final few months of the year. It seems that the holiday season has a way of bringing out the best in people, encouraging them to give of their time and talent to help those less fortunate. To many, it just feels more angelic to do something mean- ingful for their neighbors rather than to simply write a check or go to a website and type in a credit card number.

 All that being said, it’s obvious that volunteering isn’t the same as it used to be — it has taken a drastic turn since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organizations that are so critical to the well-being of local residents must change the way they recruit and utilize those willing workers who show up to help throughout the year, particularly as the holidays approach. Fortunately, many of these nonprofits have found innovative ways to keep their volunteers busy and meet the needs of the people who require their services.

 Local organizations have chosen different routes to remain up, running and available to those who need them, but they all agree on one aspect of charity in a pandemic-ravaged world: Despite the changes they have had to make, volunteers remain a critically important part of their mission. “They are the lifeblood of our organization,” said Stephanie Kelley, executive director of East Cooper Community Outreach, which was established through the volunteer work of local churches after Hurricane Hugo devastated the Lowcountry in 1989. She pointed out that two years ago, estimates put the value of volunteer work at more than $1 million. ECCO’s total budget is barely larger, at $1.4 million.

 As with many charitable organizations, most of ECCO’s volunteers were 65 or older when the pandemic reared its ugly head in March 2020. As a result, the organization lost 85% of its volunteer force almost immediately. “We had to figure out how to do things differently, with fewer people,” Kelley said, pointing out that she had around 160 active volunteers before the pandemic, a number that fell to approximately 60 as the holidays approached.

 For the safety of full-time employees, volunteers and clients, Kelley said ECCO has been limiting the number of people in its building in Mount Pleasant, working three shifts a day, with only six to 12 volunteers in the facility at any one time. The medical clinic, which

offers telehealth services, closed in March and re-opened for in-per- son visits in June, though only seven people, including patients, are permitted in the clinic at one time. The dental clinic, which closed, opened and closed again, was back in business in September, but only for emergency extractions.

 “We’re taking baby steps forward so we don’t have to take major steps backward,” Kelley said. She explained that volunteers are currently handling a variety of jobs, including answering the phones, making phone calls to check on clients, accepting food donations, restocking shelves and putting together food packages.

“We’ve not lost a single day because of COVID,” Kelley said. “We are the grocery store for people who can’t afford to go to the grocery store.” She said volunteers also can help by establishing food drives in their neighborhoods, and non-food drives as well, collecting items such as shampoo ,toothpaste and laundry detergent. And ECCO’s Adopt AFamily program hasn’t been shut down because of the pandemic. Now in its 11th year, the program allows local residents to anonymously purchase Christmas gifts for children in needy families.

Brenda Shaw, chief development officer at the Lowcountry Food Bank, agreed that volunteers are vitally important to her organization’s mission; she said last year, they contributed more than 50,000 hours of their time. “We cannot do everything we do without our volunteers,” she said. She pointed out that two volunteers, Jim and Liz McHugh, put in a total of 10,150 hours between 2014 and 2020, work that is valued at almost $250,000. The retired couple recently moved to Tennessee to be near their grandkids.

The Food Bank has quite a few other volunteers to call upon, 2,700 of them in a data- base, Shaw said, but, when the pandemic struck, for safety purposes, the organization limited its volunteer force to “super volunteers” who were willing to come in two to three times a week. She said some people who had lost their jobs because of COVID-19 decided to spend more time helping others.

“When COVID hit, we really started to look at our hours and what we had to do. Early on, people over 60 had to assess if they felt comfortable coming in. We discouraged them from coming in, and quite a few didn’t,” Shaw explained. She added that as of the end of October, the Lowcountry Food Bank was no longer limiting the number of volunteers who can sign up to work at its facilities in North Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Yemassee; however, shifts are limited to no more than seven people, volunteers must wear masks, gloves are provided and frequent hand washing is encouraged. Potential helpers can go to the organization’s website and sign up to work specific shifts.

 Among the jobs handled by volunteers are providing 1,100 meals a day in the Zucker Family Production Kitchen, sorting bulk produce, inspecting donated food, data entry, loading food into clients’ vehicles and even cleaning windows. At one80 Place, launched in 1984 and now the largest provider of homelessness services in Charleston, volunteer service was suspended from July through November because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In normal years, around 1,500 people donate their time to one80 Place, which currently has room for 73 men and 9 women and children, as well as a community kitchen that serves around 170,000 meals a year.

“Our volunteers are critically important. It’s critical to have volunteers to help our kitch- en staff. We rely on them to be that front-line service to our clients,” said Director of Annual Giving Katie Smith.

Lowcountry Food Bank drive-thru food distributions like this one in West Ashley ensure that social distancing and Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention protocols are followed. People who need food simply open their trunks and volunteers place boxes of shelf-stable food and fresh produce in their vehicles.

Photo courtesy of the Lowcountry Food Bank.

In years when pandemics aren’t an issue, volunteers at one80 Place take care of a variety of tasks, including organizing the pantry by unpacking canned and boxed food and stocking shelves; wrapping flatware and filling the ice machine; carrying food and utensils to the dining area; and cleaning, both in the kitchen and in the dining room. Smith said the organization makes its COVID-related decisions on a month-to-month basis, so it was possible that volunteers would return in December. Until then—and even after the pandemic is no longer an issue— volunteers are able to help out in other important ways.

“You can write a note to one of the clients moving into a new home of their own. We print it out and put in a moving kit box. You can give back with your advocacy and your words versus your time,” Smith explained.

She said once it’s safe, she expects volunteers to return to one80 Place in droves. “We always have a great volunteer response. We have such a great community response of people wanting to give back their time. We normally fill our volunteer spots pretty quickly,” she noted. 

And while these charitable organizations are vitally important to people, especially during the pandemic, pets need help as well. Though the Charleston Animal Society has limited the number of people who can be in its building, including volunteers, the organization has continued to offer the same services that were available pre-COVID.

“We really haven’t missed a beat. We’re still out in the community. We still have our spay and neuter clinic, and we’re still doing adoptions,” said Director of Community Engagement Kay Hyman.

She pointed out that the Animal Society has a pool of around 400 volunteers who in the past handled an array of responsibilities, including cleaning cages, walking dogs, assisting in the surgery center and helping out at events such as the organization’s annual chili cook off – held virtually this year – and adoption events. During the pandemic, the Society is using only a limited number of hand-picked volunteers at its facility in North Charleston, but there are several other ways for people to donate their time. 

For example, volunteer drivers made an 18-hour trip to Louisiana to pick up 80 animals from two shelters that were in the path of Hurricane Delta. In addition, some volunteers work at the Animal Society’s Second Chance Resale and Adoption Center, and fostering is still an important part of the Society’s mission. In late October, there were 176 animals in foster care, Hyman said.

She added that animal lovers can do one more thing to help out during the pandemic.“The best thing people can do is spread the word about what we do and help collect the supplies we need. The food that’s donated is distributed to at-risk animals in our community. Our goal is to keep pets with their families in underserved communities. Sometimes their pets are all they have, and they need a little extra help. ”Isn’t that the mission of all charitable organizations? To provide a little extra help?