Volunteer to help combat depression

Q: I feel winter closing in, and with COVID on the uptick, I dread feeling lonely and isolated again. Any suggestions?

Josie R., Tallahassee, Fla.

A: The pandemic has increased a sense of separation and loneliness for many people, especially those not going into an office, who have lost a job or live alone. And we’re in the midst of a spike in cases that demands we be extra vigilant about social distancing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and academic and medical centers predict that there could be as many as 200,000 new cases of

COVID-19 in the week of Nov. 14 — and each week beyond — until we get a vaccine. That’s why this winter may usher in more feelings of loneliness and depression in people young and old.

We’ve put together a list of resources that offer you ways to feel connected, interactive and that you make a difference in the quality of life for others. As President Barack Obama once said: “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out [we add: or stay in] and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”

So check out these organizations and Google “online volunteering” for more possibilities.

— United Nations Volunteers at www.onlinevolunteering.org/en opens up a world of opportunities using whatever interests or talents you have.

— Smithsonian Digital Volunteers (www.si.edu /volunteer/DigitalVolun teers) lets you work with the museum’s many branches. You can even become a sleuth; check out the Archives of American Gardens Mystery Project!

— To help people in acute crisis for a minimum of four hours a week, get in touch with the Crisis Textline at www.crisistextline.org /become-a-volunteer. Training is provided.

— Address everything from gun violence to stress management by getting involved with DoSomething. org (www.dosomething.org /us/campaigns); it especially enlists younger volunteers.