With the outbreak of the coronavirus – or COVID-19 – many organizations have shut down projects and volunteer services for the sake of safety. Helping out is hard: it’s a disease with no effective way of fighting back. Thus, for volunteer enthusiasts who still want to make a contribution, here are the things you could or should do.

Please donate blood. The American Red Cross Association is in need of maintaining their supplies of blood to treat future patients infected with COVID-19. Although there is no evidence that the disease is transmitted through blood, we still want to mitigate the spread. If more people are to be infected in the coming months, these blood donations will be vitally important when there becomes a shortage of healthy people able to give a donation. Therefore, if you can give blood, help out and go to your nearest Red Cross center today.

Stay informed! Know how to stay safe and share that with your friends. One kid approached me and was still confused on why doctors don’t treat sick people with antibiotics; please don’t be that kid. The best prevention method is to wash your hands and avoid overly touching your face. The virus only spread through respiratory fluids, so a sick person with the virus person who coughs or sneezes can spread it. Wearing a mask can prevent droplets from infecting you, but tiny viral particles called aerosols can still pass through. Masks also don’t protect your entire face, so they can still get in your eye.

However limited your volunteer options may be, you can proactive and still help fight the disease. But, if you are brave enough, you can volunteer to test out possible vaccines by getting infected with the virus. Whatever you do though, please consider what you can do to help out the entire world.