IICF Virtually Presents Children Relief Fund Grants
Read about the many ways the insurance industry is responding:
Insurance Industry Unites Through IICF to Help Vulnerable Children During Unprecedented Pandemic
How insurance companies are giving back during COVID-19
Ways to Serve the Community Remotely
American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/volunteer-role-finder.html
- Missing Maps Program
- Blood donation
CareerVillage: Community of students and professions offering career advice https://www.careervillage.org/
Covia - Calls to Seniors (must pass a background check and participate in a 2 hour background check): https://covia.org/services/social-call/
Family Elder Care: Connect with the elderly community members who are isolated via phone from your home. https://www.familyeldercare.org/volunteer/lifetime-connections-without-walls/
Hire Heroes USA: Help veterans with mock interviews, career coaching remotely: https://www.hireheroesusa.org/volunteer/
Homemade PPE Masks: For healthcare workers, homeless programs/shelters, etc.
- Examples: in Minnesota, Allina & Blue Cross Blue Shield is in need; in Chicagoland, DuPage Pads is in need, CDC, Foodshare in Hartford, CT). Many opportunities are listed on VolunteerMatch.com
Learning Ally: Create Audiobooks - https://learningally.org/Get-Involved/Volunteer-Opportunities
Volunteers create audiobooks for students with learning differences; our member students may be blind or have a vision impairment, or have a learning difference like dyslexia.
Phil’s Friends: Send encouraging cards to people fighting Cancer through their Cards of Hope program. https://philsfriends.org/volunteer/
Send Catered Food or Essential Items to homeless shelters – include notes/donations of essential items. Check with your local food shelters for opportunities. Most local shelters have needs ranging from food items to soap, shampoo, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, etc.
Send Cards and Letters to the sick and elderly – Hospices and long-term care facilities are in lockdown, isolating people from family, friends and volunteers who cannot visit. Call your local hospice, nursing home, or independent living facility for their rules and needs. Here is one organization that provides this service:
- Letters of Love: https://lovefortheelderly.org/letters
Smithsonian Institute: volunteer by transcribing historical documents: https://transcription.si.edu/
Track bird populations and migration patterns: https://ebird.org/about/
Trevor Project: Trevor Chat/TrevorText volunteers are trained to answer chat messages or texts online from young people who are struggling with issues such as coming out, LGBTQ identity, depression, and suicide. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-involved/volunteer/
United Nations: Apply to volunteer with the UN: https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en
UPchieve: Be a virtual Academic Coach to at-risk students: https://upchieve.org/volunteer
Virtual Tutoring –Provide tutoring services and support for high school students in statistics and government courses through virtual Microsoft TEAMS and Zoom platforms.
Write letters to Service Members:
- Operation Gratitude: https://www.operationgratitude.com/express-your-thanks/write-letters/
- A Million Thanks: https://amillionthanks.org/
Other Virtual Opportunities
Find virtual volunteer opportunities in your area through Idealist, Volunteer Match, Catchafire, Serve, All For Good (These websites offer filters by region and type of opportunity you are interested in):
- https://www.idealist.org/en/actions?q=remote&searchMode=true
- https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/?l=United%20States#k=&v=true&s=1&o=recency&l=United+States&r=country&sk=&specialGroupsData.groupSize=&na=&partner=
- https://www.catchafire.org/volunteer?name_filter=&page=1&priority=1&init=1
- https://www.nationalservice.gov/serve
- https://www.allforgood.org/
Get Creative!
IICF Southeast Division created a video for ChildCareGroup’s Virtual Video Series. Individuals and their families each created a 5-20 second video clip themed to a letter of the alphabet (i.e. A is for Apple, B is for Batman). The finished product with be used to help preschool children learn the alphabet.
Have a nonprofit you would like to add to this list? Please contact Kelly Hartweg at khartweg@iicf.com
Check back soon to see additional ways IICF and the insurance industry is giving back during this unprecedented pandemic.
