Date/Time: The second and fourth Saturday of every month, 1 - 3pm or 10am - noon

Location(s):

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate

Time Commitment: Two hours

Sea Hugger is a nonprofit organization focused on protecting and healing the marine environment from plastic pollution through action and education. You and your family can help out your community and your environment by attending a beach cleanup! They have one on the second and on the fourth Saturday of every month. March is a special month for Sea Hugger, as they will be celebrating their 4th birthday! They will be celebrating on the second Saturday of March, with a cleanup at Princeton-by-the-Sea and a birthday celebration afterwards. In order to volunteer at any event, you must sign and complete their waiver. Sea Hugger has volunteer opportunities twice a month, if March doesn’t work for you, check out their other event dates here.

Contact: sophie@seahugger.org, 650.479.4047. For more information on March events or to sign up for a cleanup, click here.

Date/Time(s): There are a variety of shift times available. Check out the Our City Forest event calendar for dates and times.

Location: Our City Forest Nursery and Training Center, 1000 Spring St, San Jose

Ages: Families with children of all ages are welcome to participate. Volunteers 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult or guardian all volunteers under age 18 must have a parent or guardian consent to volunteer.

Time Commitment: Three-hour shifts

Our City Forest is on a mission to cultivate urban forests in Silicon Valley. Your family can help by potting trees with Our City Forest! A bare root tree is a dormant tree shipped to us with exposed roots and without soil. Volunteers are needed to help plant them in pots.

If you arrive at your shift without the above items, you may be turned away from volunteering due to safety reasons. Volunteers are required to submit a Volunteer Waiver & Release Form and a Vaccination Status Form. Forms can be submitted electronically to volunteer@ourcityforest.org, or brought with you to your volunteer shift.

Contact: Erika Alvarez, volunteer@ourcityforest.org. Registration is available online. Just click on the event you are interested in and follow the links to register through Eventbrite. You can also check out and register for additional volunteer opportunities on the Our City Forest event calendar.

Date/Time: Flexible, ongoing opportunities

Location: Projects take place at the location of your choosing. Drop off projects or donated items at 2750 Monterey Road, San Jose.

Ages: All ages can participate

Time Commitment: Varies

The mission of San Jose Animal Care & Services is to provide a welcoming and humane place for animals and those who care for them. They have many opportunities for you and your family to get involved and make a difference in the lives of our furry friends! From fostering a kitten at your home, to making homemade cat and dog toys, to spreading the word about ongoing donation needs, there is a way for everyone to get involved. Learn more about volunteer projects here.

Contact: sanjoseanimals@gmail.com, 408.794.7297. If you would like to foster a kitten, please email sjfoster@sanjoseca.gov.

Date/Time: Sunday, April 3

Location: Your home or community

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate

Time Commitment: Varies, depending on your project

Good Deeds Day is a global movement of doing good. Throughout the world, families, neighbors, schools, clubs, companies, and communities come together to do a good deed project. Perhaps your family has an idea for a Good Deeds Day project for your community. Or you can browse the project ideas page for ideas. We encourage individuals to recruit colleagues, friends and family, and plan a project as a group!

Contact: info@good-deeds-day.org or click here to contact the Good Deeds Day team. Click here to register your Good Deeds Day project.

Date/Time: Varies

Location: Varies

Ages: Families with children of all ages are welcome

Time Commitment: Varies, depending on the project

Trash Punx is a San Francisco Bay Area-based volunteer organization that cleans up trash around the community and has fun while doing it! You and your family can participate by attending one of their clean-ups, recycling events or conservation efforts. March projects will be posted on their event calendar as soon as they are available.

Contact: TheTrashPunx@gmail.com. To sign up for a volunteer project, visit their event page and click the ‘Sign Up Here’ or ‘RSVP Here’ link.

Date/Time: Drop off on Fridays, 10am - 2pm

Location: 1854 Bay Road, East Palo Alto

Ages: All ages can participate

Time Commitment: Varies

WeHOPE is the loving neighbor that believes access to clean water, a healthy meal, and affordable dignified housing is a basic human right. They provide a multitude of different services for those in need, from mobile homeless services to emergency food and shelter services, to job skills training. The Dignity on Wheels program provides hygiene services to the homeless seven days a week. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the need for these services have tripled. They are in ongoing need of various donated items for individuals who use their services including:

Learn more here.

Contact: Nakia Davis, ndavis@wehope.org, 650-779-4632.

Date/Time: Saturdays and Sundays; specific hours will vary.

Location: Varies

Ages: Families with ages six and older are welcome to participate with the presence of a parent or guardian at all times

Time Commitment: Varies, depending on the project

The City of San Jose is working hard to ensure our parks and environment are healthy and clean. They have events every weekend throughout the month that focus on building and bettering the community, by doing park clean-ups and community workdays. You and your family can join to help out your community! In order to volunteer with the city, it is required that you show proof of vaccination/booster. It is also required that you fill out the Volunteer Service Agreement Form. Click here to learn more here about upcoming events

Contact: ParkVolunteer@sanjoseca.gov, 408.595.3483. Click on the event link of your choice, which will direct you to the Eventbrite.com registration page for the event. Follow the instructions on that page to register for your event.

Date/Time: Weekday afternoons. Times will vary depending on location. Check the registration page for available dates and times.

Ages: Families with children ages 10 and older are welcome to volunteer. Volunteers between 10 - 13 must have adult supervision.

Time Commitment: Two hours

Loaves & Fishes is a nonprofit organization that provides over 1.5 million meals each year to our hungry neighbors throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in the Bay Area. They are in need of meal servers to help prep food, serve guests, and clean up! They will provide sanitizer, masks, and gloves for all participants. Loaves & Fishes utilizes all COVID-19 safety protocols - from temperature checking guests to social distancing! All volunteers must provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 in order to volunteer. 

Contact: volunteer@loavesfishes.org, 408.922.9085. Registration is available online. Scroll down to Meal-Serving Opportunity @ Vietnamese SDA Church or Meal-Serving Opportunity @ Goodwill site and select a shift to sign up for. All volunteers must read the Volunteer Consent, Waiver/Release, and Photographic Release prior to signing up. You will be asked to type "YES" to agree to each on the signup form.

Date/Time: Check out the event calendar for details of dates and times. Harvest dates are posted a few weeks prior to the event.

Location: Varies depending on the event you choose

Ages: The minimum volunteer age to volunteer is 14, but children 7-13 may be welcome at events depending on the type of fruit and trees. See the event calendar for age limitations of individual projects.

Time Commitment: Varies

Village Harvest is a nonprofit volunteer organization in Northern California whose mission is to provide food for people in need, promote sustainable use of urban resources, and preserve our agricultural heritage and skills. Volunteers now harvest up to 1/4 million pounds of abundant fruit each year from homes and small orchards for food banks to help people in need. You and your family can help by signing up to register for one of their harvesting events. All children must have a signed Volunteer Liability Release and Parent Consent signed by a parent.

Contact: info@villageharvest.org, 888.378.4841. Visit their event calendar to register for a project.