Giving Compass' Take:

• Here is a list of opportunities to donate your time or money toward helping those that are most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• How is your community organizing to address COVID-19? What issues are exacerbated by the pandemic?

• Read more on how to find volunteering opportunities during this time. 

One of the main questions I get asked as a reporter writing about the social and political fallout from the coronavirus crisis is, “How can I help?”

It’s a natural question. As of this writing, over 115,000 people have died of coronavirus worldwide, including nearly 6,900 in New York City alone. The unemployment rate in the United States has already spiked to a level never seen during the worst of the Great Recession. Many Americans are slated to get $1,200 each in federal stimulus checks.

A lot of good donating and volunteering opportunities have cropped up in the wake of the crisis, and it’s beyond my abilities to survey and rank all of them. But there are a few that strike me as especially promising and easy for people in a position to volunteer or donate toward.

  • Build up poor countries’ health systems Americans have been getting an object lesson during this crisis in what it looks like when a health system doesn’t have enough capacity. Not only are too many Americans uninsured and unable to pay for health care right now, but they literally don’t have the necessary supplies. There aren’t enough masks, enough ventilators, even enough infectious disease doctors and nurses to handle a pandemic of this magnitude.
  • Help build the safety net at home You can also donate, and volunteer, closer to home. The National Coalition for the Homeless maintains a directory of local homeless shelters; homelessness is the closest thing in the US to the extreme poverty common in parts of the developing world, and it’s worth reaching out to your local shelter to see if they need in-person volunteers.
  • Donate to prevent the next pandemic By far, the biggest impact one could make in a Covid-19-related area would be on research and investments that help prevent the next pandemic.

Read the full article about how to donate and volunteer time to address coronavirus by Dylan Matthews at Vox.