Light the Night Walk

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Date/Time: Saturday, November 7, 5 p.m.

Location: Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego.

Ages: Families with children of all ages can participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

Everyone with blood cancer deserves a longer, better life. At Light The Night, we gather as a community to celebrate, honor, and remember those touched by blood cancers. Companies, community partners, families, and sponsors join to bring light to the darkness of cancer. The funds raised by this community fund life-saving blood cancer research around the world, provide free information and support services, and are the voice for those seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care for patients and their families.

Contact: 888.557.7177. Registration is available online.

lightthenight.org 

Komen San Diego 3-Day

Susan G. Komen Foundation

Date/Time: Friday, November 13–Sunday November 15 at various times.

Location: Various locations in San Diego.

Ages: Volunteers ten years old and older are welcome to participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

The Susan G. Komen San Diego 3-Day is made possible by an amazing team of volunteers who help make this event a success.

Cheer Station volunteers are needed throughout the route to encourage our participants as they walk 60 miles in 3 days to support our mission of ending breast cancer forever. Bring your friends, family, co-workers, team, organization, or troop out to support our walkers!

Available Cheer Stations:

• Friday, November 13, 8-9:30 a.m. - Wisdom Properties
• Friday, November 13, 10-1:30 p.m. - UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Friday, November 13, noon-5 p.m. - Taylor Library - Pacific Beach
• Saturday, November 14, 7:30-9 a.m. - Quivira Way
• Saturday, November 14, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. - Robb Field - North
• Saturday, November 14, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. - South Mission Beach
• Sunday, November 15, 8:30-10:30 a.m. - Bonita Cove
• Sunday, November 15, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. - Balboa Park

Contact: Select a volunteer role and sign up here. 

komen.org

Run for Hope Thanksgiving Day 5K 

Father Joe’s Villages

Date/Time: Thursday, November 26, 7:30 a.m.

Location: Balboa Park, 1549 El Prado, San Diego.

Ages: Everyone can participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

San Diego’s original and longest-standing Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot benefits Father Joe’s Villages Food Services Programs, which provide over 700,000 meals annually. Give back to our community and make an impact on people experiencing homelessness. 

• In-Person participants: Your event registration includes race admission, a Thanksgiving Day 5K shirt, a participation medal, and a bib number. Plus, your registration counts towards your fundraising total!
• Virtual Participation: Virtual participant registration includes a Thanksgiving Day 5K shirt and a virtual participant medal so that you can participate on your own time. Plus, your registration counts towards your fundraising total!

Contact: Registration is available online.

my.neighbor.org

Balboa Park Cleanup

Forever Balboa Park

Date/Time: Saturday, November 28, 9–11 a.m.

Location: Balboa Park,1549 El Prado, San Diego.

Ages: All ages can help. Participants 17 years old and younger will need a parent or legal guardian present.

Time Commitment: Two and a half hours.

Enjoy the beauty of Balboa Park while doing your part to keep it clean! Open to all ages and abilities. Our Monthly Community Park Cleanups invite volunteers of all ages to care for the landscapes that make Balboa Park a shared civic treasure. From garden beds to pathways, these hands-on mornings strengthen our connection to the Park—and to one another.

Forever Balboa Park will provide gloves, pickers, and compostable trash bags. Please wear comfortable walking shoes and sun protection. 

Contact: Carlos at carlos@balboapark.org. Registration is available online. 

foreverbalboapark.org

Holiday Baskets 

Community Resource Center

Date/Time: Donations will be accepted through November 29.

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

Now in its 45th year, Community Resource Center’s Holiday Baskets help ensure low-income households have a wonderful holiday experience while giving them some economic breathing room, so scarce dollars may be spent on other needs such as rent, utilities, or transportation. There are three components to the Holiday Baskets 2026 program:

Shopping Experience 

• A “dignity of choice” shopping experience for CRC clients at a local store, to choose new, most needed items.
• A voucher to choose gently used items at CRC’s Resale stores. 
• A new blanket and fresh produce. 

Holiday Backpacks 

• Sturdy backpacks filled with personal care items, nonperishable food/snacks, and special gifts, so that CRC’s unsheltered neighbors will have the essentials needed for winter. 

Senior Gifts 

• Delivered to the seniors, gift bags are filled with items to make the holiday more special and help them navigate life with more comfort. 

Volunteers can help make this program a success in several ways:

• Donate Blankets: CRC will be collecting new throws and new queen- and king-sized blankets. For information about donating new blankets or hosting a donation drive to collect new blankets, please contact cbyrd@crcncc.org.
• Donate: Your financial gift helps us to cover storage, trucks, staff, and the purchase of items needed to make Holiday Baskets a meaningful and beneficial program for hundreds of households in our community.

Other volunteer opportunities may be posted in late October/early November. Sign up for our monthly newsletter for updates.

Contact: For more information, contact cbyrd@crcncc.org.

crcncc.org/

Gardening in Solana Beach 

Boys and Girls Club of Northwest San Diego

Date/Time: Varies.

Location: After expressing interest, you will be contacted to confirm participation and provide directions for this opportunity.

Ages: Ages nine years old and older can participate with an adult.

Time Commitment: Varies.

The gardens at the Boys and Girls Club are an important part of the culinary program they offer. Youth help with planting and harvesting, but volunteers are always needed to help with all the upkeep. The Boys and Girls Club offers cooking classes for the youth; ensuring the gardens are in good shape helps to keep these programs running.

Volunteer projects include weeding, mulching, and planting.

The mission of Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest San Diego is to inspire, develop, and enrich young people to reach their fullest potential as confident, productive, responsible, and caring members of society.

Contact: For more information, email volunteer@bgcGreaterTogether.org. Please complete the online volunteer form for each family. All adult volunteers need to complete a background check, and all volunteers need a liability waiver signed. Those documents will be provided to you prior to starting as a volunteer.

bgcgreatertogether.org

Adopt-A-Beach/Canyon - Independent Cleanups 

I Love a Clean San Diego

Date/Time: Varies.

Location: Varies.

Ages: All ages can participate. All volunteers need to sign a waiver and any volunteers younger than 18 years old will also need a signature from a parent or guardian.

Time Commitment: Independent cleanups generally take 2 to 3 hours.

The Adopt-A-Beach®/Canyon program makes it easy for volunteers to run a cleanup independently at their adopted location by scheduling a date and time that works for them!

This program is for groups of all ages. Volunteers are welcome to participate in litter abatement as often as they would like, but to officially adopt a site, volunteer groups have to do a minimum of three cleanups in one year at that location. They need to also report their litter data to I Love A Clean San Diego after each one. Volunteers who collect and report detailed litter data and waivers from their cleanups can also be recognized through the Signage Program, at participating locations.

This is a self-led, independent cleanup opportunity. I Love A Clean San Diego provides volunteers with the materials to help them take the lead but no staff will be on-site on the day. If you would like I Love A Clean San Diego to plan a custom cleanup for your group from start to finish, check out their Corporate CleanBuilding Program instead.

Adopt-A-Beach/Canyon Volunteers will pick up and report essential litter data that provides a snapshot of what is impacting our communities. This data is shared with the California Coastal Commission and Ocean Conservancy to track the state of litter in San Diego County over time. Data from this program helped pass the California Bag Ban, and ILACSD hopes to continue to create lasting change with help from volunteers!

Contact: adopt@cleansd.org. Register for independent cleanups online. 

cleansd.org

Create Meals Made Easy Kits

Feeding San Diego

Date/Time: Ongoing.

Location: Drop off complete kits at 9477 Waples St. Suite 100, San Diego, Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Ages: Everyone can help assemble kits.

Time Commitment: Varies.

Create meal kits using shelf-stable ingredients that help neighbors experiencing food insecurity prepare nutritious meals at home. Choose from six tested recipes, assemble ingredients in clear bags with recipe cards, and drop them off at our San Diego facility—all on your schedule. This project is perfect for students earning community service hours, families teaching kids about giving back, remote workers seeking flexible volunteer options, and anyone who wants to help but can’t volunteer on-site.

Once everyone has signed up and your group or family is ready to begin, review the menu to choose which kit you'd like to create. Then, start gathering and assembling the items. Important information about this project:

• Volunteers are responsible for collecting all items for the kits, except for the recipe cards (which we will provide).
• All meal kits must be packed in clear bags. This allows our staff to inspect the contents without opening them and helps recipients quickly determine if the items meet their dietary needs or preferences.
• All food items must be labeled in English and include an ingredients list. This is essential for food safety and transparency for those with dietary restrictions. We cannot accept unmarked, homemade, or repackaged items.
• Do not include any items in glass containers, as they can break during transport. We want to ensure all items can be safely used by our neighbors.
• Each participating volunteer must submit a minimum of 12 kits.

Contact: Learn more about the opportunity and sign up here. 

feedingsandiego.org

Art from the Heart

PATH San Diego

Date/Time: Contact Alex at alexr@epath.org to schedule a drop-off time.

Location: Your own home. The drop-off location is in downtown San Diego.

Ages: Everyone can help.

Time Commitment: Varies.

You can help support PATH's Move-In program by turning a house into a home. PATH is looking for volunteers who would like to create works of art to help beautify the living spaces of their clients. Wall decor that is created for clients' new homes supports the style and comfort of the interior setting. Any medium to create decor can be used but should be positive, supportive, and inviting.

Physical space can affect a person's mood and self-esteem. By supporting their move-in program and creating works of art to beautify a new home, you can help send the message that someone cares.

Contact: Alex Rockabrand at alexr@epath.org.

epath.org/regions/greater-san-diego

Trail Maintenance 

Lakeside’s River Park Conservancy

Date/Time: Tuesday–Friday, 7–11 a.m.

Location: 12108 Industry Road, Lakeside

Ages: All ages are welcome. Minors must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Time Commitment: Flexible. Volunteers may help for one to four hours on individual days or establish a regular weekly schedule based on their availability.

Help care for the San Diego River and surrounding habitat at Lakeside’s River Park. Volunteers help maintain the High Trail by removing litter and debris, identifying maintenance needs, reporting vandalism or other concerns, and assisting with light brush removal and gardening tasks such as invasive plant removal and watering.

The High Trail follows the San Diego River and overlooks restored wetland and riparian habitat that supports native plants and wildlife. Volunteers should be comfortable walking approximately one to two miles. Training, tools, and supplies are provided. Lakeside’s River Park Conservancy was established in 2001 to restore 100 acres of former sand-mining land along the San Diego River. Today, the restored property provides important riparian habitat for wildlife and a natural resource for the surrounding community.

Contact: 619.443.4770 or Volunteer@LakesideRiverPark.org. Register online here.

LakesideRiverPark.org