Wallace May cleans up wheelchairs in the north wing of Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 325 Maine. May has been a volunteer at LMH for 10 years, performing many duties, including creating the labels visible on the side of the wheelchairs, which identify the chairs floor and wing.

Wallace May might not be in a financial position to donate large sums of money to charity, but he donates what he does have: time.

May, 79, has volunteered at Lawrence Memorial Hospital for nearly a decade.

“It’s hard to describe what moves someone, but I have always wanted to help people, and I thoroughly enjoy doing something that the hospital and patients benefit from,” May says.

As the economy takes a nosedive, local nonprofit organizations are hoping people try to donate their time if they aren’t able to give financially.

Among the biggest needs locally: homeless services.

Tracie Massey-Howell, director of the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, believes the self-made philanthropists are essential to the livelihood of those Lawrence residents who are in need of assistance.

“Homeless services are our biggest needs right now because they provide food, serve meals and work with our shelters,” she says.

Currently the food pantries in town are empty, and the need for families to cook for the Lawrence Community Shelter is larger than ever.

Loring Henderson, the shelter’s director, believes cooking for the homeless helps out and gives children a hands-on experience with volunteerism.

“They seem pretty responsive and understand people are really hungry, and this is a very visible experience with feeding the hungry,” he says. “Families like to introduce their children with helping people in this way.”

Massey-Howell says while money helps pay bills for organizations, volunteering often leads to donations as well.

“It’s a reciprocal factor – if people are giving, they are more apt to volunteer, and if people are volunteering, they see a value in that organization and they are more apt to donate a dollar or two here and there,” she says, noting there are approximately 2,000 volunteers working at various nonprofit organizations in Lawrence.

One of those is May, who claims he never has a day when he doesn’t want to show up at LMH.

“I find I have more energy now than I did 10 years ago,” he says. “They are the days that give meaning to my week.”