Mar

Stay in touch here while socially distancing at home

Beginning on March 14, 2020, as a public health precaution due to COVID-19, all Smithsonian museums in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and in New York City, including the National Zoo, have temporarily closed to the public.

The health and safety of Smithsonian visitors, staff and volunteers is a top priority. We are closely monitoring the coronavirus situation and maintain ongoing communication with local health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the situation, we are not announcing a reopening date at this time.

Upon announcing this closure, Secretary Bunch reached out to our volunteers: “I wanted to take a moment during this rapidly evolving and ever-changing time to reach out and thank each of you for your service to the Smithsonian and your dedication to our mission. You are our public face, and your efforts make every visitor’s experience educational and enjoyable.”

“To that end, we have decided, effective immediately, to suspend all volunteer programs and gatherings SI-wide until further notice. This means volunteers should not report to their regular assignments starting March 14.

Smithsonian encourages you to put your health and safety first, and to follow CDC guidance (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html), to determine if you are considered to be at risk for serious illness from COVID-19. We greatly appreciate our volunteers, and we know that you are essential to our operations. We want to make sure everyone is taking the appropriate actions needed to protect their health.”

During our pause from on-site volunteering, we encourage you to stay in touch with us here, on Volunteer Voices. We’ll be posting more stories, more often so we can stay connected. Let’s continue to increase and diffuse knowledge by maintaining and building our virtual volunteer community!