Library hosts COVID-19 volunteer & resource fair

The San Marcos Public Library is hosting a virtual volunteer and resource fair in response to COVID-19 to help local organizations providing direct assistance to the community during this time speak about the process to access their services, as well as any available volunteer opportunities or needed donations.

The San Marcos Resources Fair is a continuation of the library’s annual Stronger Together Volunteer Fair that is usually hosted in December, according to Public Outreach Librarian Deborah Carter. 

“Every year at the library we have the Stronger Together Volunteer Fair. It always happens the first week in December and it's a nice way for the community to know how to give back, but it’s also a resource fair because we all sit on both sides of that fence — sometimes we are in need of support and help from the community and sometimes we have extra to give, even at the same time,” Carter said. “But this one is for COVID-19, because most nonprofits are not operating in any kind of normal capacity. Some of them are doing over time. So this resource fair focuses on the organizations that are up and running in the community right now.”

Carter said organizations like the Hays County Food Bank, the Hays-Caldwell Women's Center, the Greater San Marcos Youth Council, the HOME Center of Central Texas, WIC, KZSM, Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area, the Texas Veterans Commission, the San Marcos Public Library and more are still operating within the community and will be apart of the virtual volunteer and resource fair.

Some of the organizations are actively seeking dedicated volunteers, others organizations are in need of donations and items and some are not currently seeking volunteers or donations, but are using the resource fair to get the word out about the resources they offer and how to access them.

The resource and volunteer fair will be hosted over a video panel with representatives from different local organizations speaking about their current work, community offerings and organizational needs. The video will begin casting starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday on the San Marcos public Library’s Facebook event page.

Carter said she hopes the community will work together to fight COVID-19 the same way they came together to help each other after the 2015 floods.

“During times of crisis, this is what we have, we’re ‘Stronger Together,’” Carter said. “It is a logo that people identify with because during crises San Marcos has had a special ability to come together more than any other places I've lived in.”

For more information about the virtual resources and volunteer fair, call 512-393-8200.