When you commit time and talent to a nonprofit’s mission – no matter how you choose to get involved – you become a volunteer, and the impact of your efforts runs far deeper than the specific project or task you work on. For example, volunteers don’t always realize that the hours they spent stocking shelves meant hundreds of families would have food for two weeks. Or that the time spent fundraising not only raised critical mission dollars but also added value upward of $1,250 to the organization’s bottom line. When you consider that many corporate partners, philanthropists, and foundations want to know the impact of volunteerism before sponsoring, granting, or donating, it’s clear just how much your volunteer time matters.
Your volunteer time creates a powerful ripple effect that touches countless lives and sustains vital work in our communities. At LLS, we see this first-hand every day.
This past year has challenged us all as we’ve had to adapt to a new normal. For patients and caregivers, the pandemic has brought added distress, new financial worries, and loneliness on top of navigating their cancer care and treatments. The pandemic could have stopped LLS in our tracks, but it didn’t. Together, we forged ahead with our mission because patients and families couldn’t wait for our help. And while the uncertainty continues today, here’s what I do know.
Since the earliest days of the pandemic, volunteers stood in partnership with our staff and expressed unwavering support for other volunteers, our patients, families, and our communities. Even though we couldn’t be in the same room, attend events together, celebrate successes, and give high-fives, LLS volunteers showed up. You rolled up your sleeves to provide critical support for patients, raise your voices for equal access to care, fundraise in support of research, and so much more. Our volunteers dedicated more than 200,000 hours from March 2020 to April 2021 – an incredible feat during challenging times.
To put this into perspective, the value of that time is roughly equivalent to the following activities:
- 108,800 free educational booklets for blood cancer patients and healthcare professionals
- 54,000 translational services for a Specialist to communicate with non-English speaking patients
- 18,133 critical lab supplies for LLS-funded researchers
- 10,880 financial assistance for eligible blood cancer patients through our Urgent Need Program
When blood cancer patients and families needed us more than ever, LLS volunteers, alongside our staff, were unstoppable. Across the country, volunteers support every facet of our organization – from bolstering our regions’ efforts to raising critical funds to providing direct support to patients and families and advocating for policy changes at the state and federal level. That’s why LLS volunteers are truly superheroes. And your passion, time, and talent are superpowers in helping LLS beat blood cancers. In fact, while our bedrooms became offices and our kitchens became schools, and we all learned to unlock new skills, LLS volunteers helped us achieve remarkable progress across our mission.
