Welcome to summer in Santa Cruz County, where the spirit of adventure meets the call to service! Volunteering is actually a great way to explore our community from the eyes of an adventurer.
Think of the Volunteer Center as your trusted guide, helping you navigate the landscape of service opportunities across our county. Let us help you connect with new friends, experiences, ideas, and even hidden gems within our community.
You never know where your volunteer adventure can lead – but you can be sure it will provide you with a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and joy. Isn’t that what adventure is all about? Join us as we explore the top 10 volunteer opportunities in Santa Cruz County this month. Together, let’s do good and make our community even brighter!
- YouthSERVE Summer Institute
YouthSERVE
June – July, County-Wide
Join YouthSERVE this summer and give back to our community while having fun in the process! The YouthSERVE Summer Institute is a free 4-week program that helps youth gain community service hours, collaborate with peers, and realize their power to transform our community through service.
- Front Desk Receptionist
Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County
Ongoing – Santa Cruz
Join the Volunteer Center team as a receptionist and support volunteers and program participants to create a welcoming environment.
- Pleasure Point Street Fair
Live Oak Education Foundation
June 22, 2024, Santa Cruz
The Pleasure Point Street Fair is coming back on June 22nd! Hosted by the Pleasure Point Business Association, this amazing event is a great showcase of local talent including music, food, and art vendors!
- Wildfire Home Assessor
Fire Safe Council of Santa Cruz County
Ongoing – Santa Cruz
The FireSafe Council of Santa Cruz County is looking for volunteers to help educate interested community members on home hardening and defensible space practices. This is a critical role as our county prepares for a high-risk fire season – click the link to learn more!
- Help Care for Our Rescued Horses
Canham Farm Horse Rescue Inc.
Ongoing – Scotts Valley
Canham Farm Horse Rescue needs people to help out with general horse care. Duties include feeding horses, some mucking, interacting with horses (after volunteer training) and more depending on experience. They have other volunteer opportunities as well – if you love horses, this could be a great adventure for you!
- Volunteer with Suicide Prevention Service
Suicide Prevention Service
Ongoing – Santa Cruz, CA
Suicide Prevention Service (SPS), a program of the Family Service Agency of the Central Coast is dedicated to providing suicide prevention, intervention and postvention services that support the life, health, and safety of those at risk of suicide throughout Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties.
- Volunteer with Neighborhood Courts
Volunteer Initiative Program
Ongoing – Santa Cruz
Neighborhood Courts seeks volunteers to support their community-driven diversion program by repairing harm using restorative justice principles. Volunteer roles could include: Facilitating restorative justice conferences, supporting people who’ve caused harm to understand the impacts of their actions and work toward repair, and participating in creating community-driven solutions to crime and wrongdoing.
- Garden Group Volunteer
Community Connection
Ongoing – Santa Cruz
Passionate about gardening, health, wellness and giving back to the community? We’re looking for someone special to support our weekly garden group in our Healthy Connections program in Santa Cruz for adults living with mental illnesses. Come connect with the Volunteer Center’s Community Connections team in our healing garden while sharing your passion for gardening with our program participants!
- Share the joy of bike riding with youth
Community Bike Collective
Ongoing – Watsonville, CA
Volunteers will be providing logistical support as well as encouragement/coaching for bike rides that we provide to youth that may otherwise not have an opportunity to ride bikes. This is the perfect volunteer project for you if you are a, clear communicator, comfortable with joyful chaos, can ride a bike and can help others learn, can relate to youth, create a fun atmosphere, and be a good role model.
- Saturdays in the Soil
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History | http://santacruzmuseum.org/
Saturday, June 15 – Santa Cruz
We are coming together as a community to steward Tyrrell Park through the City’s Adopt-A-Park program. At the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, you gain new wisdom about local ecology, native plants, and sustainable gardening while connecting with nature outdoors. It’s time to get your hands dirty! Space is limited so registration is required.
Find your volunteer match at the Volunteer Center!
At the Volunteer Center, we believe that a better world IS possible thanks to the everyday heroes who volunteer in our local community. That’s why we are dedicated to he;ping everyone find their perfect volunteer role. We each have different needs when it comes to volunteering – time, interests, location all pay a factor! The Volunteer Center will connect you with an organization that matches your interests and availability
Search the Volunteer Center database of ALL volunteer opportunities
Register as a volunteer so you can be alerted as new opportunities become available.
Need volunteers? Register your organization and we’ll connect you to volunteers that will help you achieve your mission.
ABOUT THE VOLUNTEER CENTER OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
The Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County (VCSCC) has been connecting individuals, organizations and businesses for good since 1967. Each year VCSCSC engages with more than 500 community partners and more than 15,000 volunteers who connect meaningfully to help more than 9,000 residents in need. In addition to volunteer engagement and placement, VCSCC administers 19 programs to support community need, seniors, families, youth, disaster response, and government partnerships to make Santa Cruz County a happier, healthier place to live. For more information, visit scvolunteercenter.org or find us on Facebook and Instagram.
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