From Ranks of Jobless, a Flood of Volunteers

“I laughed,” said Ms. Teisch, 39. “I just said, ‘That’s great, but I kind of want to add a zero to that number.’ ”

Ms. Teisch said the experience — she works in the kitchen, the office, wherever she is needed — has been a therapeutic tonic for her workaholic, Type-A personality. A bonus is the chance to bond with her fellow unemployed volunteers.

“You try not to focus on the bitter side — you know, ‘I hated my company and I can’t believe what they did to me,’ ” Ms. Teisch said. “At least we have something to wake up to in the morning, rather than focusing on getting another job in this very difficult economy.”

Because the typical volunteer is still job-hunting on the side — Ms. Teisch, for example, said she was looking “aggressively” — some nonprofit executives are already bracing for when the economy picks up and the new army finds paid employment.

“My hope is when they decide it’s time to do something else, they have fond memories of what they learned at United Way,” Ms. Ceccarelli said.

After a pause, she added: “Maybe they’ll even become a donor. I’ll tell you, there isn’t an executive director in town who doesn’t think that way.”