Be A Neighbor Campaign Sounds Alarm on 6.5M Weekly Volunteer Shortage

DALLAS, April 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Be A Neighbor Campaign, an initiative powered by VOMO and Builders + Backers, released new data showing a nationwide shortage of 6.5 million volunteers and issued an urgent call-to-action to close the #VolunteerGap.

Hundreds of thousands of food pantries, shelters, employment agencies and nonprofits form our communities' safety nets, and they rely on 70 million volunteers. As layoffs and furloughs surge, demand for services is escalating at the same time volunteers are staying home. Shortages are hitting nonprofits hard. Many food banks are reaching crisis levels as over half of them rely entirely on volunteers.

A state-by-state break-down of the 6.5 million volunteer shortage is available at www.beaneighborcampaign.com/volunteergap. There, anyone can sign up to be a volunteer. Be a Neighbor Campaign will match them to local nonprofits in need of help. Nonprofits may also freely use the Be A Neighbor platform to push urgent projects and calls for assistance to the national bank of volunteers.

"Hospitals are the front-line for the healthcare crisis, and nonprofits are the front-line of the economic crisis as COVID-19 puts unprecedented strain on every community," said Rob Peabody, founder of Be a Neighbor Campaign. "Lines at food banks are growing. Calls to crisis hotlines are increasing. Beds at homeless shelters are filling. These needs cannot be met without millions of volunteers."

"Volunteer shortages and staffing shortfalls are colliding with substantial increases in demand for services, throwing nonprofits already operating on tight budgets into a crisis," said Scott Case, Chair, Network for Good DAF. "They're on the frontlines helping those the pandemic is hitting hardest. They're doing it safely, and they need us all to step up and help."

For details:

Visit: www.beaneighborcampaign.com/volunteergap
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beaneighborcampaign
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Be_a_Neighbor
Instagram: https://instagram.com/beaneighborcampaign

About Be a Neighbor Campaign
Be A Neighbor Campaign is a movement to help nonprofits respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by providing them free access to volunteer mobilization and management technology and a national database of volunteers. The Campaign was launched by VOMO and Builders + Backers in March 2020 to get our nation ready to serve (safely) at scale through frontline community organizations. www.beaneighborcampaign.com

CONTACT:
Enid Doggett
202-246-3982
[email protected] 

SOURCE Builders and Backers

Related Links

http://www.buildersandbackers.com

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