Volunteers help make Northampton run! They save us tax money, help us to know our neighbors, and provide an outlet for us to help others using their skills. And the best part is that we can fit the volunteer work around our schedules, rather than the other way around.

This Thursday, April 25, the Northampton Senior Center will host a volunteer fair from 1 to 3 p.m. Yes, there will be snacks, but more important, there will be a lot of local organizations represented, all of them interested in people who need their services, and in people who can help them to deliver those services. They’re hoping to talk to you.

The last time our Senior Center held a volunteer fair was at least six to seven years ago; the pandemic interrupted volunteer recruitment, along with so many other things. Our volunteer organizations have been here all along, hoping to reach people for services as well as for their help.

Volunteers plant and prune many of our public trees; they clean up the bike path, clean out abandoned homeless camps, and pick up the piles of trash left behind in places like the Meadows. Volunteers help keep the Senior Center running, and volunteers staff the counters at many of our thrift stores. Volunteers give tax preparation help during tax season, and volunteers help to do nearly everything at the Northampton Survival Center and Northampton Neighbors.

You can be part of the solution, on your terms. Come join us!

Wendy Parrish

Northampton