Who Can Volunteer
Volunteer as a Family
Matching organizations, in a different order on every visit
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.
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.
Pacific Crest Council, Scouting America
also known as Scouting America, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Crater Lake Council
Pacific Crest Council, Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America) delivers Scouting programs across central and southern Oregon, including Bend, Redmond, Prineville, and Madras. It was formed in 2024 when the Crater Lake Council and Oregon Trail Council merged. Girls and boys from kindergarten up join Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Exploring to build leadership, outdoor skills, and service through local packs, troops, and crews, with summer camp at Camp Makualla on Crescent Lake.
Scouting runs on adult volunteers: den leaders, Cubmasters, and Scoutmasters who lead packs and troops, merit badge counselors who share a skill or career, committee members, and district and council volunteers who train leaders and run events like Pinewood Derbies and University of Scouting. Parents often start by helping their own child's unit. Churches, schools, and civic groups can charter a unit. All adults complete Safeguarding Youth training and a background check.
WWOLF
also known as Willing Workers On Local Farms
WWOLF (Willing Workers On Local Farms) is Central Oregon Locavore's volunteer farm-day program. It sends packs of volunteers to spend a day helping on local farms and ranches with planting, harvesting, and other critical tasks, creating hands-on learning for volunteers while supporting local food production and building relationships between producers and residents. Recent host farms include Windy Acres, Rainshadow Organics, and D&D Ranch.
Join a WWOLF "pack" for a day on a local farm, helping with planting, harvesting, weeding, and other seasonal farm tasks alongside the farmers who grow Central Oregon's food. No farming experience is needed. Watch the WWOLF page for upcoming farm days and register when a new one is posted.
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.
Sisters-area cat rescue, operating since 2023, that rescues cats in need, finds them loving homes, and provides spay/neuter education and responsible rehoming resources for cat owners in the community.
Volunteers foster cats and kittens, help care for and socialize cats awaiting adoption, staff adoption and community events, and support spay/neuter education and fundraising.
Central Oregon Youth Orchestra
also known as COYO
The Central Oregon Youth Orchestra (COYO) gives young musicians across the region the chance to rehearse and perform in ensembles led by accomplished musicians and educators, including a full orchestra, wind ensemble, and concert orchestra, presenting concerts each season at venues like Bend's historic Tower Theatre and developing the next generation of musical talent.
Parents, families, and music lovers help at rehearsals and concerts, including check-in, ushering, stage setup, and ticketing at the Tower Theatre, and support fundraising, instrument drives, and events that keep youth music affordable.
The Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory has inspired visitors to cherish and understand the natural world for more than 50 years. By day, its nature center features birds of prey and native wildlife, a botanical garden, and nature trails on 8 acres around Lake Aspen; by night, the Oregon Observatory offers stargazing through the nation's largest collection of publicly accessible telescopes, plus daytime solar viewing. Its Second Tern thrift store in Sunriver helps fund its programs.
Volunteers work in animal care, education, grounds and landscaping of the center's 8 acres around Lake Aspen, visitor services, observatory programs, the Second Tern thrift store, and administration. Most roles are 16 and up (animal care is 18+), and youth 10 to 15 can volunteer with a parent. A background check is required; most roles run April to October, and volunteers get program and shop discounts.
Bend-La Pine Schools
also known as BLS, Bend-La Pine School District
Bend-La Pine Schools is the public school district serving Bend, La Pine, Sunriver, and surrounding communities in Deschutes County, with elementary, middle, and high schools, magnet and choice schools like Westside Village and REALMS, and programs such as the Teen Parent Program. Community volunteers help in classrooms, libraries, and at school events throughout the district.
Volunteers support students in schools across the district, helping in classrooms and libraries, chaperoning field trips, mentoring and tutoring, and helping with school events. Volunteers complete the district's volunteer application and background check before starting, then connect with a specific school. Many schools also have parent groups or foundations with their own volunteer roles.
All-volunteer food bank that has served Sisters-area families for more than 40 years, operated by the Kiwanis Club of Sisters. It uses a client-choice "shopping style" model so families pick the foods they need, and demand has more than doubled in recent years. One hundred percent of donations stay in the community.
The food bank is run entirely by volunteers, who stock shelves, sort donations, and help neighbors shop during weekly distribution hours. Individuals, groups, and businesses can also run food drives, and the annual Feed Sisters drive each October is an easy way for anyone to fill a bag and help.
City of Bend
also known as Bend
The City of Bend is the municipal government for Central Oregon's largest city, providing services from streets, water, and transportation to planning, policing, and fire response. Through its volunteer program, residents help care for public spaces, support City departments, and serve on advisory boards and committees that shape the community.
Volunteers support City departments through programs like Bend Beautification (litter pickup, native plantings, invasive weed removal — via Adopt-A-Spot or one-time cleanups), maintaining community gardens and sustainable landscape demonstration sites, and serving on advisory boards and committees such as the Accessibility Advisory Committee. Opportunities range from occasional one-time events to ongoing commitments.
Madras foster-based rescue caring for stray and surrendered dogs and cats in Jefferson County. It focuses on keeping pets with their families through affordable spay/neuter and vaccine clinics and pet-owner education, and fosters animals that need new homes until they're adopted. It formerly ran the Jefferson County animal shelter.
Volunteers foster dogs and cats until they find homes, staff adoption events, transport animals, organize fundraisers, and support spay/neuter clinics and pet-owner education that help keep pets in their homes.
You haven't seen them all yet. There are more organizations below.