Service Opportunities
Sign-Up for VCU Childcare Co-Op
The Pediatric Interest Group is coordinating provision of childcare to VCU Health residents and staff - they have a designated GroupMe group chat called "VCU Childcare Co-op" where we will dispense all the information! Please email vcuchildcarecoop@gmail.com with your NAME & PHONE NUMBER so you can be added to the group chat if you are interested in volunteering. As we hear of other volunteer opportunities for medical students, we will make sure to pass them along to you.
Local Opportunities through HandsOn RVA
HandsOn Greater Richmond is a website and organization that provides links and information about local volunteering opportunities, including virtual and on-call volunteering, as well as on-site volunteering pertinent to the COVID-19 response. You can find out more at this link.
Foster Animals
The Richmond SPCA and the Richmond Animal League are in need of foster homes for their animals! You can sign up to either foster an animal now or be part of Richmond SPCA's Emergency On-Call Foster Care, in case foster care is needed on short-term notice. Find out more here: Richmond SPCA and Richmond Animal League. These organizations will provide you with the supplies you need; you just provide the home, love, care, and time for the animal!
Masks Making
Are you looking to help out in the community and make masks? CDC recommends wearing cloth masks in social settings where social distancing is difficult to maintain. In the setting of the prior PPE shortage, and this new recommendation, Richmond community members have organized groups to address these needs. Of note, each group has specific asks, so please make sure to read their posts before launching into mask making!
RVA Relief Runners Virtual 5K for The Holli Fund: Get some fresh air (or get on the treadmill) from wherever you're socially isolating to help us support the Holli Fund: a Richmond nonprofit providing grants to local restaurant workers in crisis, such as those affected by COVID-19. They've served us, now it's our turn to serve them. Learn more about the Holli Fund and the good work they do for the Richmond Community at thehollifund.org. Here are some more details:
Notes of Encouragement to Older Adults. The Geriatrics Student Interest Group/American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Student Chapter team is collecting notes of encouragement for older adults at the VCU hospital and in assisted living communities given all the visitor restrictions in place due to COVID-19. In order to limit contact, our AGS team will be transcribing your words onto cards and sending them out. It would mean so much to our seniors if you could take a minute to write a thoughtful message here. The notes can be however long or short you want. We really appreciate you bringing these messages to life!
Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). Sign up to volunteer with the MRC! Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far - we had a phenomenal response with 100 students who registered or in the process of registering for the MRC. Things are pretty calm so far and we hope it stays that way. But if things get hectic, we'll be ready to go! If you'd like to sign up, please do so here.
Donate to Feed More. Feed More, Central Virginia's primary Hunger Relief program, NEEDS our help. Two weeks ago, Virginia Employment Commission, in the week ending March 21, 2020, reported 46,277 initial unemployment claims. As the COVID-19 crisis rolls through Virginia, please consider donating to Feed More, which will be providing meals to tens of thousands of people in need in our local communities. If you are interested, click here to read more and donate. Every dollar helps!
SNMA MCAT Initiative. SNMA is making an effort to serve our pre-medical students of the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS). We are currently collecting new/used MCAT books to donate to our MAPS chapters at VCU & VSU. If you have any MCAT books that you are no longer in need of and willing to donate please contact Kaela Johnson (johnsonkb2@vcu.edu). We would greatly appreciate the donation!
The Pediatric Interest Group is coordinating provision of childcare to VCU Health residents and staff - they have a designated GroupMe group chat called "VCU Childcare Co-op" where we will dispense all the information! Please email vcuchildcarecoop@gmail.com with your NAME & PHONE NUMBER so you can be added to the group chat if you are interested in volunteering. As we hear of other volunteer opportunities for medical students, we will make sure to pass them along to you.
Local Opportunities through HandsOn RVA
HandsOn Greater Richmond is a website and organization that provides links and information about local volunteering opportunities, including virtual and on-call volunteering, as well as on-site volunteering pertinent to the COVID-19 response. You can find out more at this link.
Foster Animals
The Richmond SPCA and the Richmond Animal League are in need of foster homes for their animals! You can sign up to either foster an animal now or be part of Richmond SPCA's Emergency On-Call Foster Care, in case foster care is needed on short-term notice. Find out more here: Richmond SPCA and Richmond Animal League. These organizations will provide you with the supplies you need; you just provide the home, love, care, and time for the animal!
Masks Making
Are you looking to help out in the community and make masks? CDC recommends wearing cloth masks in social settings where social distancing is difficult to maintain. In the setting of the prior PPE shortage, and this new recommendation, Richmond community members have organized groups to address these needs. Of note, each group has specific asks, so please make sure to read their posts before launching into mask making!
- Masks for Healthcare professionals in RVA - This is a facebook community of volunteering that offer delivery services/materials/masks intended for usage in healthcare settings.
- Masks for VCU Community - VCU Arts is partnering with StudioTwoThree and is looking for volunteers to help (with or without craft experience). There is an excellent photo guide on mask-making on their website. Please note there are restrictions to material and dimensions to fit VCU requirements.
- Masks for Essential Workers in RVA - Very similar to RVAmasks4health, but dedicated to the essential workers of RVA
RVA Relief Runners Virtual 5K for The Holli Fund: Get some fresh air (or get on the treadmill) from wherever you're socially isolating to help us support the Holli Fund: a Richmond nonprofit providing grants to local restaurant workers in crisis, such as those affected by COVID-19. They've served us, now it's our turn to serve them. Learn more about the Holli Fund and the good work they do for the Richmond Community at thehollifund.org. Here are some more details:
- When: Make your donation and complete your 5k between April 15th and May 15th.
- Where: Wherever you'd like, as long as it's at least 6 feet from anyone else; family members are welcome to participate, but will require a donation as well.
- How: 1. Make a minimum $10 donation directly to the Holli Fund by following this link. 2.You will get a confirmation e-mail from the Holli Fund; forward this e-mail to rvareliefrunners@gmail.com as proof of your donation. 3. Once we receive your donation confirmation, we'll accept your request to join the 5k on strava at this link. You will need to make a free account. 4. Walk or run 5k wherever you are in the world! If running competitively, post your times on the Strava site. After May 15th, we'll announce our winners!
- T-shirts: you can order t-shirts for $15 each using this google form, you are welcome to purchase as many as you would like (more sales = more money for The Holli Fund!) Payments must be made to @Rebecca-Pilkington-2 via venmo. ***Note: shirts will not be able to be distributed until summer at the earliest given current health concerns.
- Please feel free to share photos and routes of your walk or run on our facebook event page "Rva relief runner virtual 5K for The Holli Fund" and/or using the hashtag #rvareliefrunners
Notes of Encouragement to Older Adults. The Geriatrics Student Interest Group/American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Student Chapter team is collecting notes of encouragement for older adults at the VCU hospital and in assisted living communities given all the visitor restrictions in place due to COVID-19. In order to limit contact, our AGS team will be transcribing your words onto cards and sending them out. It would mean so much to our seniors if you could take a minute to write a thoughtful message here. The notes can be however long or short you want. We really appreciate you bringing these messages to life!
Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). Sign up to volunteer with the MRC! Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far - we had a phenomenal response with 100 students who registered or in the process of registering for the MRC. Things are pretty calm so far and we hope it stays that way. But if things get hectic, we'll be ready to go! If you'd like to sign up, please do so here.
Donate to Feed More. Feed More, Central Virginia's primary Hunger Relief program, NEEDS our help. Two weeks ago, Virginia Employment Commission, in the week ending March 21, 2020, reported 46,277 initial unemployment claims. As the COVID-19 crisis rolls through Virginia, please consider donating to Feed More, which will be providing meals to tens of thousands of people in need in our local communities. If you are interested, click here to read more and donate. Every dollar helps!
SNMA MCAT Initiative. SNMA is making an effort to serve our pre-medical students of the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS). We are currently collecting new/used MCAT books to donate to our MAPS chapters at VCU & VSU. If you have any MCAT books that you are no longer in need of and willing to donate please contact Kaela Johnson (johnsonkb2@vcu.edu). We would greatly appreciate the donation!
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