Resident Diane Workman volunteers at the San Antonio Humane Society three times a week. She spends her mornings loading an industrial-size washing machine with blankets, pet bedding and anything else that needs to be cleaned.
“I just feel like I’m accomplishing something, and I love animals, and I know they need the help,” Workman said. “I feel appreciated.”
On her birthday in 2020, that all came to a halt. The COVID-19 pandemic essentially shut down San Antonio, including thousands of nonprofits whose volunteers were all told to stay home.
“When COVID[-19] hit, we shut down temporarily,” said Sarah Rhin, San Antonio Humane Society volunteer supervisor. “It was bare bones staff. We were just figuring it out like everyone else.”
It is difficult to put a number to how many nonprofit organizations and volunteers were affected by the pandemic, because no one agency tracks that data, nor has anyone studied it comprehensively, said Scott McAninch, CEO of The Nonprofit Council, a membership organization that works with nonprofit leaders and runs the annual online fundraising event The Big Give.