A look back at 2020
In a year of unprecedented community need, volunteers were critical.
In 2020, you stepped up when our community needed you most.
Check out some of the amazing ways you did good with Activate Good in our 2020 Impact Report.
About Activate Good
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Our 2020 in Review
January
Activate Good kicked off 2020 preparing to launch The Good Hub POP UP, a pilot test for our future community gathering and action space, The Good Hub!
February
The Good Hub POP UP opened on February 29 in a vacant office space in central Raleigh, welcoming dozens of visitors to learn about local causes, volunteer together in the space, and learn about Activate Good’s future vision for the permanent Good Hub.
March
With COVID-19 now on the rise and lockdowns implemented, Activate Good closes The Good Hub Pop Up and immediately confers with our network of nonprofit partners to assess their status and biggest needs. By mid-March, Activate Good pivoted to virtual volunteering and COVID-19 response needs, mobilizing volunteers to support efforts tackling hunger and homelessness and conducting check-in calls with isolated seniors.
April
Activate Good partners with Wake County Public School System to recruit and mobilize over 200 volunteers to configure 10,000 WiFi hotspots for students without internet access in less than a week.
May
Activate Good shares some of the challenges Triangle area nonprofits are facing as COVID-19 spreads in our Community Partner Coronavirus Challenges Report. We make the challenging decision to cancel our annual Teens Change the World Summer Camp, but adjust the program’s model, inviting local teens to join us for ongoing, year-round service and leadership opportunities. We mobilize volunteers to help individuals experiencing homelessness – who lack access to the internet to file for themselves – complete their unemployment or stimulus filings to receive critical support. Over 80 volunteers delight us by submitting creative, fun “virtual storytime” videos reading to kids – sometimes in costume!
June
We join a nonprofit partner to combat youth summer learning loss, boredom, and isolation, conducting a supply drive and volunteer initiative that provides $5,000 worth of art and education supplies to an estimated 250 kids in the Triangle.
To tell the story of community members rising up to serve and help their neighbors during COVID-19, Activate Good partnered with photographer Bisi Cameron Yee to create the Look for the Helpers Photojournalism Project.
July
With food insecurity in the Triangle rising, we launch an initiative to help recruit volunteer drivers to transport excess food from farms, restaurants, and catering services to food banks and pantries around the Triangle.
August
As students prepare to resume remote learning, Activate Good partners once again with Wake County Public School System, this time recruiting over 500 volunteers to help distribute nearly 50,000 laptops to students who need them to participate in school.
September
In lieu of our annual 9/11 Day of Service, Activate Good hosts “United We Help Month”, a series of in-person and remote service projects and online learning workshops educating Triangle residents on a variety of issues across the Triangle. WRAL sponsors our 9/11 Virtual Evening Commemoration, recognizing those lost on September 11, 2001 and amplifying our call for volunteers.
October
Activate Good partners with multiple nonprofit agencies to rally community members to support local families by conducting supply drives and assembling “family essentials kits” with hygiene and cleaning supplies.
We launch a new campaign with Wake County to mobilize volunteers to assemble 50,000 mask kits for distribution to vulnerable populations across the region.
November
Activate Good shines a light on increasing hunger and homelessness in the Triangle by recruiting volunteers to support projects to tackle these issues during Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week. Just before Thanksgiving, Activate Good hosts its annual “Family Volunteer Day” with a new a take-home service project format, inviting dozens of families to pick up supplies to complete service projects at home and engage in dialogue about the importance of helping others as a family.
December
Campaigns continue to mobilize volunteers to assemble mask kits, package food at local food banks and pantries, and more. We partner with Wake County to recruit support for Pride for Parents, a project that allows parents in need to obtain holiday gifts affordably for their families. The first of a series of five “Virtual Volunteer Expos” – online volunteer fairs educating community members about local needs – takes place with over 70 in attendance.
Activate Good closes out the year preparing to mobilize community support for 2021 projects supporting education, combating food insecurity and poverty, and more.
Check out this timeline as a downloadable PDF!
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