Region
Volunteer Opportunities in Redmond, Oregon
Matching organizations, in a different order on every visit
Think Wild is Central and Eastern Oregon's only public wildlife hospital and conservation center, located on four acres on Bend's east side. Its veterinary staff and volunteers rescue, treat, and release hundreds of injured and orphaned native animals each year, from hummingbirds and flying squirrels to bald eagles and bobcats. Think Wild also runs a wildlife hotline, humane wildlife conflict help, Beaver Works Oregon habitat restoration, and education programs and camps for youth and the community. Found injured or orphaned wildlife? Call the hotline at 541-241-8680 (8am–6pm daily).
Volunteers help in the wildlife hospital with animal care, diet prep, and enclosure upkeep; rescue and transport injured wildlife; care for ambassador animals; support education programs, camps, and community events; and assist with humane wildlife conflict projects. Youth and family volunteering is available for kids and teens, and families and groups can join habitat restoration through Beaver Works Oregon. Training is provided.
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.
Central Oregon Volunteer Connect
also known as COVC, Volunteer Connect, Volunteer Central Oregon
Central Oregon Volunteer Connect is a program of Connect Central Oregon representing one of their four pillars - alongside Mentoring, Innovation, and Partnership. It's a regional infrastructure, shaped and stewarded by community leaders over more than two decades connecting organizations, volunteers, emerging leaders, and community energy across Central Oregon. Along with direct partnership outreach across the region, most notably the Connect Central Oregon Volunteer & Board Fair — the in-person event connecting volunteers and organizations face to face, their Volunteer Central Oregon directory allows browsing or searching to find organizations across Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson Counties, and Warm Springs looking for volunteers, donors, and community partners.
Connect Central Oregon is always looking for leaders who want to help connect individuals, groups, and organizations to each other and strengthen our community. One of the most important roles within the entire organization, serving as a "Connector" represents the very purpose of ConnectCO and serves as the primary method of our community engagement...using very literally every resource ConnectCO and its leadership team have to offer.
SAGE - Senior Advocates for Generational Equity
also known as SAGE
SAGE (Senior Advocates for Generational Equity) helps people over 50 give forward so that younger and future generations can thrive. SAGE members in central Deschutes County volunteer their time and experience with local youth-serving programs and advocate for policies that support children and families.
SAGE offers a range of ways to give forward, including leading or joining discussion groups and workshops, mentoring younger generations, event support, and contributing to special projects. Some opportunities are with SAGE directly, others through partner organizations SAGE promotes in the community.
Heaven Can Wait 5K is Central Oregon's walk and run for breast cancer awareness, founded in 2000 by breast cancer survivor Charlene Levesque with the Central Oregon Running Klub. Held each fall at Redmond High School, it benefits Sara's Project, the St. Charles Foundation initiative supporting local breast cancer patients, and has raised more than $2 million for education, early detection, and patient support.
Volunteers make race weekend happen, with shifts from Friday through Sunday: bib pickup and registration at FootZone in Bend and in Redmond, Saturday venue setup, and on race day course marshals, water stations, course and finish-line cheerleaders, parking, merchandise, and cleanup. Most shifts run two to three hours, and some roles are open to volunteers as young as 12. Sign up for a shift online.
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.
Connect Central Oregon is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that strengthens communities in Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties (plus Warm Springs) by connecting people with volunteer opportunities, board positions, and mentorship. It promotes civic engagement, community leadership, and innovation through platforms like Central Oregon Volunteer Connect.
Volunteers help run CCO's community events, from volunteer and board fairs to robotics and drone expositions, support community media production, and help keep the Volunteer Central Oregon directory accurate by reviewing organization listings. Students and groups are welcome, and CCO can sign off on community service hours.
Every Child Central Oregon
also known as ECCO, Marked for Love, NeighborImpact Supportive Services, Every Child Oregon
Local affiliate of Every Child Oregon, mobilizing the community to support children and families impacted by foster care in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson counties and Warm Springs. It recruits and supports foster families, provides essentials for kids entering care, and runs a regional diaper bank. Founded in 2019 and later operated by Marked for Love, it joined NeighborImpact in July 2026 as the agency's Supportive Services department, keeping its staff, warehouse, and programs.
There are ways to help big and small: assemble Welcome Boxes for kids waiting in a DHS office, put together Family Fun Boxes and Cleaning Kits for foster families, meet specific requests through My NeighbOR, and donate needed items. Adults can also become certified to provide respite care or open their homes as foster parents. Packing projects are great for families, classes, and workplace groups.
Ember's Wildflower Animal Sanctuary and Bunny Rescue
also known as Ember's Wildflower Bunny Rescue
Central Oregon's only bunny-specific rescue and sanctuary, just outside Redmond. Ember's takes in abandoned and surrendered domestic rabbits, including special-needs bunnies, provides spay/neuter and veterinary care, adopts them into loving indoor homes, offers lifelong sanctuary to those who can't be adopted, and educates the community on proper bunny care. It runs entirely on donations and volunteers.
Volunteers help with daily animal care (feeding, fresh water and hay, cleaning pens and litter boxes, and socializing bunnies for adoption), laundry and weekly greens runs, driving bunnies to and from vet appointments, fostering, and staffing event booths. Shifts are usually an hour or two, and kids can volunteer alongside a parent.
The Columbia River Circuit is the Pacific Northwest region of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, covering about 60 PRCA rodeos across Oregon, Washington, and northern Idaho, including Central Oregon stops like the High Desert Stampede, Sisters Rodeo, and Crooked River Roundup. Each fall, the top 12 cowboys and cowgirls in every event meet at the Boot Barn Columbia River Circuit Finals Rodeo in Redmond, held at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo and now indoors at the First Interstate Bank Center, with shopping, food, and nightly after-parties.
The Finals draws its volunteer crew largely from the committees and crews of the circuit's rodeos, including Central Oregon's own. Volunteers help with gates and ticket scanning, ushering and hospitality, arena and chute support, sponsor and VIP areas, and set-up and tear-down across the three nights. If you volunteer with a local rodeo, this is your chance to work the championship; others can reach out through the Finals website.
The Bend Pops Orchestra produces, presents, and promotes memorable music for Bend and surrounding communities. Its local musicians rehearse and perform a season of popular music, from film scores and Broadway to light classics, presenting free concerts in Bend, Redmond, Prineville, Sisters, and Sunriver, while developing players' skills through mentorship and musical direction.
Volunteers help the orchestra bring free concerts to the community: greeting and ushering, setting up and striking the stage, handing out programs, helping with publicity and outreach, and supporting fundraising. Musicians can audition to play with the orchestra.
You haven't seen them all yet. There are more organizations below.