Focus Area
Youth Development Volunteering in Central Oregon
Matching organizations, in a different order on every visit
Heart of Oregon Corps empowers young people ages 16–24 through jobs, job training, education, and service to Central Oregon communities. Its programs include YouthBuild, where youth build affordable homes while continuing their education, the High Desert and Central Oregon Youth Conservation Corps, Camp LEAD, and Food Heroes. Since 2000, it has served more than 4,750 youth who are disconnected from school and work.
Volunteers can mentor a young person working to build job skills and finish their education, join the Employer Advisory Council to connect Corps members with local employers and careers, or serve on the Board of Directors (two seats are reserved for program alumni, and no prior board experience is needed). General volunteer opportunities are also available through the inquiry form.
BendFilm is a Bend nonprofit, founded in 2003, that celebrates independent cinema's power to enrich lives, amplify diverse voices, and inspire change. It presents the annual Bend Film Festival each October, which brings more than 100 independent and student films, filmmaker Q&As, panels, and parties to venues across town. Year-round, BendFilm owns and operates Tin Pan Theater, the downtown arthouse cinema, and runs Free Movies in the Park, the Basecamp filmmaker program, and youth filmmaking camps and workshops.
Volunteers run nearly every part of the Bend Film Festival, including box office and ticketing, theater and venue operations, guest and filmmaker hospitality, event and party support, and distributing the festival guide. Year-round, volunteers also help with screenings, special events, and parties. Perks include a festival volunteer tee, screenings when seats are available, and free Tin Pan Theater tickets.
Caldera, founded in 1996 by Dan Wieden and Priscilla Bernard Wieden, inspires and supports youth from underserved urban and rural communities by awakening the potential of their creative voice. Its free, long-term youth program pairs kids with artists and mentors for seven-plus years through school-year programming and summer camps at its campus on Blue Lake west of Sisters, blending art, music, dance, writing, film, and time in nature. It also hosts an Artists in Residence program. In 2015 it was the first Oregon nonprofit to win the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, presented at the White House.
Volunteers support events and workshops that bring the community together, help in operational roles that keep programs running, and take on youth program support roles, sharing their knowledge and creativity with students ages 12 to 18. Commitments range from a few hours a month to more, year-round, in Central Oregon communities and the Portland area.
Redmond Area Park And Recreation District
also known as RAPRD; Redmond Parks and Rec; The Hub; Cascade Swim Center
A special district providing aquatic and recreation programs, facilities, parks and trails in the greater Redmond area. RAPRD runs The Hub, its aquatic and recreation center, and offers swim lessons, youth and adult sports leagues, fitness, art and enrichment classes, summer camps and adaptive recreation.
Volunteer coaches are always needed for youth sports leagues; coaches complete a background check, concussion training and a pre-season clinic. Volunteers also support adaptive recreation programs and other youth programs, and roles range from coaching to grant writing. Community members can serve on the district's budget committee. Apply with the district's volunteer application; volunteers under 18 need a parent or guardian signature.
Tower Theatre Foundation, Inc., The
also known as Tower Theatre
The Tower Theatre is downtown Bend's historic performing arts center, a 460-seat Streamline Moderne landmark whose neon tower has lit up Wall Street since 1940. Saved from closure by the nonprofit Tower Theatre Foundation and fully renovated in 2004, it hosts concerts, theater, dance, film festivals, lectures, and community events, along with its LessonPLAN youth education programs. The Doug Watson Scholarship for Performing Arts honors Doug Watson, the Foundation's longtime board chair and a co-founder of Connect Central Oregon, by helping graduating seniors across Central Oregon pursue the arts in college.
Tower Theatre relies on a large crew of volunteers to keep the venue running. Opportunities include ushering, photography, giving tours, administrative support, hospitality, community liaison work, and helping with special events, with weekly trainings offered.
The Open Arts Center is a nonprofit creative arts center in Bend's Central District, offering a community-driven space where teens and adults foster creativity, intergenerational learning, and belonging. Teens ages 13–18 get free and low-cost afterschool creative programming, open art hours, and mentorship. Adult artists can rent private studios, join a member co-working art space, and take or teach classes and workshops.
Volunteers help power a free creative space for teens. Trained, background-checked adult mentors support the afterschool teen program alongside staff, and working artists can share their craft through mentorship, workshops, and classes. Community members can also pitch in on events and on hands-on projects building out and furnishing the center.
Marine Corps League – Central Oregon Detachment #1308
also known as MCL Detachment 1308, Central Oregon Marine Corps League, Central Oregon Holiday Toy Drive
Central Oregon's detachment of the Marine Corps League, bringing together honorably discharged Marines and Navy corpsmen for fellowship and service. When Toys for Tots paused its Central Oregon operations in 2025, the detachment relaunched the region's holiday toy drive as the Central Oregon Holiday Toy Drive, with Summit Health and Central Oregon Veterans Outreach, keeping gifts under the tree for thousands of local kids. It also hosts the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Bend each November.
The detachment runs the Central Oregon Holiday Toy Drive, and anyone can help: hosting a toy drop box at a business, running a drive or fundraiser, picking up toys from collection sites, and sorting and distributing gifts to families in December. Marines and Navy corpsmen can join the League itself and help with veterans events and the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball.
Central Oregon Partnerships For Youth
also known as COPY
Central Oregon Partnerships for Youth (COPY), a program of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, provides one-to-one community-based mentoring for children who have an incarcerated parent. These youth aren't involved in the justice system themselves; they've been affected by an adult caregiver's choices, and a caring mentor helps them build connection, confidence, and positive experiences.
Volunteer mentors are matched one-to-one with a Deschutes County youth ages 5 to 15 who has a parent in jail or prison, and spend a couple of hours a week together for at least a year: community outings, art projects, the High Desert Museum, parks, climbing gyms, bike rides, and more. Mentors must be 21+ with a driver's license, pass a background check, and attend classroom training, with ongoing individual coaching.
The Deschutes County 4-H Association supports 4-H youth development in Deschutes County in partnership with Oregon State University Extension. 4-H clubs give young people hands-on learning in areas like livestock and animal science, foods, textiles, and STEM, building leadership and life skills through club projects, events, and the Deschutes County Fair.
Adult volunteers serve as club and project leaders, teaching youth in areas like livestock, foods, textiles, and STEM, plus event volunteers for the county fair. Leader training and background checks are required through OSU Extension.
Deschutes County Juvenile Community Justice works with young people involved in the juvenile justice system and their families, focusing on accountability, repairing harm, and building skills so youth can succeed and communities stay safe.
Volunteers mentor youth, help with skill-building and community service projects, and serve on community accountability panels, after screening and training.
Desert Sky Montessori is a Bend school offering Montessori education that nurtures children's independence, curiosity, and love of learning through hands-on, child-led learning.
Parents and community members volunteer in classrooms and on field trips, help with school events and fundraisers, and support facilities and garden work days.
Art Sprouts, Inc.
also known as ASI, Bend for Ukraine, UA&Co. (Ukrainian Alliance of Central Oregon), Kolovita
Bend nonprofit founded by a Kyiv-born art and outdoor educator. Through Art Sprouts it brings art and outdoor education to children who might not otherwise have access, and through Bend for Ukraine and UA&Co. it helps displaced Ukrainian families resettle in Central Oregon while sharing Ukrainian culture with the wider community.
Volunteers help run community cultural events and pop-ups such as Ukrainian holiday celebrations, workshops, and community art installations; support resource fairs for newly arrived families; assist with youth art and outdoor education programs; and lend skills like translation, mentoring, and everyday support to Ukrainian families settling into Central Oregon.
You haven't seen them all yet. There are more organizations below.