Bend Park and Recreation District manages Bend's parks, trails, and recreation facilities, including Juniper Swim & Fitness Center, Larkspur Community Center, and the Deschutes River Trail, and offers year-round sports, fitness, youth, and senior programs for residents of all ages and abilities.
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers coach youth sports, help care for parks and trails through project days (weeding, litter cleanup, trail maintenance), and support recreation programs — including teen-specific roles like Cougar Camp counselors, Junior Lifeguard and Swim Instructor Aides. Read more ›
Who can volunteerPreteens (10–12)Adolescents (13–18)Adults (19+)Older adults (65+)
The PTO is a non-profit organization that exists for the purpose of supporting the education of children at Silver Rail Elementary School by fostering relationships among the school, parents, and teachers. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeEvent support (staffing and cheering shifts at school events like the Color Fun Run), riding along with the student Bike Bus, helping run the school-day Mileage Club, Watch D.O.G.S. (dads and father figures volunteering at school), and PTO leadership roles. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
Partners In Care is Central Oregon's only independent, nonprofit home health and hospice organization, and the state's first hospice service. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeHospice volunteers offer companionship and support to patients and families through presence, not medical tasks, serving 2–8 hours a month (often 1–3 hours a week) for at least a year. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
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. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers support students in schools across the district, helping in classrooms and libraries, chaperoning field trips, mentoring and tutoring, and helping with school events. Read more ›
Who can volunteerFamiliesAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response is an all-volunteer nonprofit that has sent specially trained dog and handler teams to comfort people affected by crises and disasters since 1999. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers serve as certified crisis response canine teams, offering comfort at disasters, school crises, and other traumatic events when an agency requests them, or as team leaders who supervise and support teams on deployment without needing a dog of their own. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
The Central Oregon group of Moms Demand Action has been active in Bend since 2014 as a local group of the Oregon chapter. Its volunteers organize community gatherings such as the annual Wear Orange event each June, meet with lawmakers, and share safe firearm storage education with families. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeVolunteers help with community events and vigils, legislative advocacy (contacting lawmakers, testifying, advocacy days in Salem), Be SMART safe firearm storage education, voter outreach, tabling at local events, and survivor support. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdolescents (13–18)Adults (19+)Older adults (65+)
Provides primary care, mental health and dental services regardless of the ability to pay. Sliding scale discounts available to those eligible.
Volunteering looks likeOutreach and event volunteering: representing Mosaic at community events, staffing a booth, set-up and tear-down. Advisory roles: a Fundraising Advisory Council, plus Patient Advisory Councils for Mosaic patients. Read more ›
Who can volunteerCorporate / Workplace GroupsAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)Oregon Health Plan Hours
Compassionate Canines of Central Oregon is an all-volunteer group, founded in 2001, that brings registered therapy dog teams into hospitals, schools, special needs centers, and nursing homes across the region. It matches teams with places that want visits, and offers education and networking for handlers. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeHandlers and their dogs visit hospitals, schools, special needs centers, and care facilities as therapy dog teams. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
NAMI Central Oregon, the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, provides free support, education, and advocacy for people living with mental illness and their families, including peer and family support groups, classes, and community presentations that reduce stigma and help people find hope and recovery.
Volunteering looks likeVolunteer roles include support group leaders and class teachers (with NAMI training, often people with lived experience), community presentations and outreach, local advocacy, events and fundraising, grant writing, graphic design and writing, and admin help. Read more ›
Who can volunteerGroupsCorporate / Workplace GroupsAdolescents (13–18)Adults (19+)Older adults (65+)Oregon Health Plan Hours
Deschutes County Health Services (DCHS) provides public health and behavioral health programs county-wide, including public health clinics, school-based health centers, environmental health, crisis services, and outpatient and youth behavioral health. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeMedical Reserve Corps volunteers, both medical and non-medical, support emergency and disaster response, staff pre-planned community events, help with public health and behavioral health outreach and education, and take part in trainings, exercises, and drills. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
Crook County Fire & Rescue provides fire, emergency medical, and ambulance service from Prineville. Alongside its career crews it relies on volunteer and resident firefighters, and it teaches the community too, including free Stop the Bleed classes in partnership with St. Charles that train residents and workplaces to control life-threatening bleeding.
Volunteering looks likeVolunteer firefighter/EMTs respond to medical calls, crashes, and structural and wildland fires, and can train to drive apparatus and ambulances. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)
Stop the Bleed is the American College of Surgeons' national program, run under a license from the U.S. Department of Defense, that teaches everyday people to control life-threatening bleeding before help arrives. Read more ›
Volunteering looks likeAnyone old enough to understand the material can take a free hands-on course and be ready to help in a bleeding emergency. Read more ›
Who can volunteerAdults (19+)Older adults (65+)