New Philadelphia, Ohio (WJER) - The local United Way is again helping connect caring residents to the organizations that could use their passion. 

The Volunteer Connect Fair is this afternoon at Tuscora Park featuring 20 local non-profits looking for assistance in a variety of fields. Community Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Kate Gallagher-Wilsterman says her organization will be one of the many non-profits there to connect with people in a low-pressure environment.
    
“Well, first of all, we always have giveaway stuff, like you’ll at least leave with some pens and notepads, but you’re not going to get ambushed,” she says. “We have tables set up so it’s really more of like a fair where you can walk through and check out things. Nobody is going to say, ‘Hey, you walked past my table. Why didn’t you stop and talk to me.’”
 
Gallagher-Wilsterman says the fair gives people a rare chance to find groups in need of volunteers all in the same place. She says even at hospice alone, there is a range of ways to donate time.

“We’ve got everything from working in our Browse & Buy stores to sitting with patients to stuffing envelopes to making phone calls, and that’s what’s so beautiful about this connect fair is that there are so many organizations with so many opportunities,” she says. “You really can’t go wrong. There’s going to be something for you.”

Groups will be set up at tables inside the park pavilion from 4 to 6 pm.  

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