Volunteers prepare donations at St. Stephen Outreach in the Brooklyn borough of New York, on Friday, March 20, 2020. One out of four Americans volunteer, giving an estimated 8 billion hours a year of service. The most common work: collecting, preparing, distributing or serving food, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
March 23, 2020
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March 23, 2020 9:06 p.m.
Charities face growing need in pandemic without volunteers
For more than a week, Elaine Peoples, who cooked for a now-shuttered day care center, has been out of work. At 68, she's also at a higher risk for catching the new coronavirus. Nonetheless, she's showing up four days a week for her volunteer shift at an increasingly crowded Brooklyn soup kitchen and food pantry.