Recently, “Anonymous” (author of so many lavatory wall messages) posted on a neighborhood website, “Are there any volunteering opportunities in the borough other than the library?”
My first response was, “what do you have against books?” Fortunately, others were more generous and provided multiple recommendations.
I have long viewed volunteering as dangerous. In the Army, or most any group setting, the most fearsome announcement had to be, “Can we have some volunteers?”
The safest response was to blend into the background and wear unobtrusive clothing, like a cloak of invisibility.
In my old age, despite obsessing over the threat posed by the orange menace and a fascist takeover of the nation, I’ve become slightly less misanthropic and more receptive to volunteering. Fortunately, many opportunities are available.
Regarding libraries, both the Hopewell and Pennington Public Libraries rely heavily on volunteers to check books in and out. If you don’t like that work, Barbara Merry, Hopewell library director, knows a slew of other ways to get involved, including “the Book-mo-bike” (think bookmobile but with a bike), delivering materials to those who can’t get to the library. Pennington needs folks to design library program advertising or “contribute in any way reflecting their special interests.”
If you really hate books, you can engage in some gross tasks like cleaning out centuries of detritus from Hopewell Library’s attic and basement, brute force activities that exquisitely fit my skill level.
Hopewell Township’s three fire departments are always recruiting volunteers. According to Lt. Mark Bovenizer, volunteers can be trained to deal with fires, car accidents, water emergencies or to be EMTs.
The less adventurous can get involved in flower sales, car shows, and pancake breakfasts. The Ladies Auxiliaries provide support, including distributing food and blankets after disasters like Hurricane Ida.
Perhaps you are looking for an opportunity to reacquaint yourself with nature. Various area organizations are eager to help you connect.
Sourland Conservancy needs volunteers for various projects like tree planting, invasive species removal and stream-health monitoring, (“Hello, Stream, how are you feeling?”)
Most tantalizing is serving as an amphibian crossing guard. You could be trained to chaperone salamanders and frogs across local roadways during their March migration, an activity that doesn’t quite answer the age-old question, “Why did the salamander cross the road?”
Sourland also needs volunteers to work on their July music festival and September bicycling event. “Remote” office jobs await those who prefer not to venture outside.
D&R Greenway needs volunteers aching to get their hands really dirty building trails in area preserves. Trail boss Alan Hershey leads folks from age 16 to 80+ in moving boulders, clearing brush (including the pernicious rosa multiflora) so that a person can hike safely and comfortably through the Hopewell wilderness.
I’ve experienced profound ecstasy moving enormous hunks of rock, destroying thorn bushes and grading paths. Periodically, I revisit my favorite stones, now serving as steps on hillside staircases.
D&R also needs folks to plant native plants, replacing the alien species that have been hacked back.
Stony Brook Watershed offers multiple conservation activities: “Whatever your talents and interests are, we will find a way for you to contribute!”
Along with maintaining their 950 acre preserve and its 10 miles of trails, you could be building wheelchair accessible boardwalks, cleaning up streams, assisting with programs for school groups, helping with their Butterfly Festival, or doing office work.
Have you always wanted to be a zookeeper? The Watershed can use “Critter Care Assistants” ages 12+ to help feed, clean, and care for their mini-menagerie of turtles, snakes, fish and bugs.
Then there’s the really serious work: helping the hungry and homeless.
The “hyperlocal” Chubby’s Project, a “nonprofit dedicated to food justice,” needs volunteers to pack and deliver 150 lunches each week to the township’s needy.
Homefront works “to break the cycle of poverty and end homelessness.” The majority of its clients are children. Cindy Sears, volunteer coordinator, seeks volunteers age 16 or older to work in their food pantry. They also need after-school tutors for children ages 7-15 at their Ewing campus. Perhaps there’s a spot for you in Homefront’s pop-up store in the Borough.
TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) feeds the hungry and offers programs “to encourage self-sufficiency and improve quality of life for people in the Greater Trenton Area.” Charlie Orth, volunteer coordinator, recruits volunteers to prepare and serve lunches and dinners. You must be at least 13 and able to be on your feet for the entire shift. TASK provides aprons, hair covering and gloves for food handling.
Volunteers are also needed to tutor adults and staff an imminent ESL program.
Goodwill recycles “gently-used clothing, household goods, and furniture,”to fund job training for individuals faced with disabilities and disadvantages. Perhaps there’s a volunteer slot for you at their Pennington drop-off site.
Information, including applications, is on each organization’s website.
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