AFTER ELECTION, MORE NEW YORKERS OFFERING TO HELP

Rise of the right, and particularly Trump, spurs altruistic drive as city’s volunteer groups report surge in signups

Jonathan Lipsmeyer, a part-time wine buyer, was so upset after Donald Trump won t he US election last year that he volunteered to teach English to Muslim-Americans. “For me this was important because it helps address the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim spirit that seems to be enveloping the country,” said Mr Lipsmeyer, 42, who lives in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn.

“My first thought was, this whole hateful tide was sweeping the planet after Brexit, Trump’s election and the rise of the right wing in France, and I can help.”

Mr Lipsmeyer signed up with New York Cares, one of the largest volunteer groups in the city, joining a small army of volunteers who have decided to lend a hand after the polarising election.

New York Cares reported a 137% increase in would-be volunteers just in the week after the election, compared with the same week in November 2015. That figure covered would-be volunteers such as mr Lipsmeyer who were interested in teaching English or helping people prepare for citizenship tests.

“We feel the pressure of people wanting to attend” orientations for new volunteers, said Gary Bagley, executive director of New York Cares.

“One of our jobs is to be ready to pivot” when there is a surge of volunteers, he said, adding: “There really is no shortage of need in New York. Very often, we just expand our capacity, get more people out where they want to go.”

Other organisations in New York that depend on volunteers also reported increases in volunteers this year, and traffic on a volunteering website maintained by the city has risen 20% in the past six months.

City officials consider the site an important measure of interest, because nonprofit groups post openings for volunteers there.

Nationally, the online service VolunteerMatch has seen activity on its website climb by 7% in June, compared with June 2016, its president, Greg Baldwin, said. The site showed increases in crisis support advocacy and hunger, immigration and veterans’ affairs.

But the largest increase, nearly 199%, was in the category VolunteerMatch calls “politics”. The 16 volunteer jobs listed recently on its website were for nonpartisan groups dealing with climate change or poverty or human rights.

Sanctuary for Families, a New York nonprofit that provides counselling and other services to victims of domestic violence and their children, reported a 15% increase in volunteers from its website from Nov 8 to April 1.

“The through line is that we have heard from many people who are reaching out for the first time,” Emily Lo Bue, its director of corporate and volunteer relations, said.

Sanctuary for Families uses about 3,000 volunteers per year, she said, including lawyers who donate their time or whose time is donated by law firms.

The higher numbers came as City Hall completed a study, which was started before the election, that said 48% of New Yorkers volunteer in some way — more than three times the rate reported in the Corporation for National and Community Service’s annual “Volunteering and Civic Life in America Report” last year.

The New York study was based on survey interviews with more than 850 people in western Queens from August 2016 to March.

Paula Gavin, chief service officer in the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, said there had been “anecdotes and instincts” that more volunteering was happening in New York than the national numbers indicated.

The survey provided data as city officials looked at ways to strengthen volunteer networks around the city.

The national report said volunteers tended to be people who were older, native-born English speakers and college-educated, and owned their own homes and had higher incomes. In the city, Ms Gavin said, “The most striking pattern we found in the course of the study was high levels of volunteering even among New Yorkers who don’t fit many of these characteristics.”

How much the respondents’ interest in volunteering was prompted by events such as Mr Trump’s election and inauguration was unclear.

Laura Rog, the city’s director of volunteer strategy and development, said most of the interviews were conducted before the election. “I think we’re uncovering that people were engaged all along,” she said.