Who Can Volunteer
Volunteer Opportunities for Preteens (Ages 10–12)
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.
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.
A statewide Oregon environmental nonprofit mobilizing volunteers for litter cleanups, habitat restoration, and waterway care, including annual events in Central Oregon.
Volunteers join litter cleanups, habitat restoration, and invasive plant removal at events statewide, including annual Central Oregon projects like the Upper Deschutes River cleanup and Sisters Community Cleanup Day. Groups and self-led projects are also supported.
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.
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.
Deschutes Public Library serves all of Deschutes County through branches in Bend, Redmond, Sisters, La Pine, and Sunriver, offering books and media, digital resources, storytimes and youth programs, adult learning and author events, and community spaces. Voter-approved bond projects are expanding and renovating libraries across the county, including a new central library in Bend.
Volunteers help at branches across Deschutes County with materials handling, programs and events, and outreach. There are separate applications for adults and youth ages 12 to 17; after applying, your local branch's volunteer liaison schedules a screening conversation. Teens in grades 6 to 12 can also join the Teen Library Council to plan and lead a mental health project and earn volunteer hours. In-person openings vary, so returning volunteers are sometimes invited first.
BrightSide Animal Center is a high-save animal shelter in Redmond that cares for displaced dogs and cats, rehabilitates them, and places them in responsible, loving homes. Every animal is spayed or neutered and microchipped before adoption, and a foster hospice ("fospice") program lets older or terminally ill pets live out their lives in volunteer homes.
Volunteers walk dogs, socialize cats, staff the BrightSide thrift store, and help at adoption and community events; foster volunteers care for animals at home, including senior and ill pets in the fospice program. Start with an application and a general orientation; hands-on animal roles also require online Fear Free certification. Junior volunteers ages 10–17 are welcome with a parent (no dog walking), and court-mandated community service is accepted.
Tumalo Lavender
also known as Tumalo Lavender Farm
Tumalo Lavender is a working lavender farm in Tumalo, northwest of Bend, growing lavender on-site and making bath, body, culinary, and home products sold at its farm store and online. The farm welcomes visitors for U-cut lavender, workshops, yoga, and seasonal events, and each September invites the community to its volunteer harvest day.
At the annual Volunteer Harvest Day in September, family and friends drop in anytime during the day to help cut lavender and celebrate the end of the season on the farm. It's a relaxed, family-friendly way to spend a few hours outside, with RSVPs through the farm's event calendar.
Sparrow Clubs USA empowers kids to help kids in medical need through compassion, kindness, and sponsored community service. A local school adopts a child facing a medical crisis as its Sparrow, a business sponsor pledges funds, and students earn those funds for the family by completing community service hours in the child's name. Based in Bend, it runs clubs across Central Oregon and beyond.
Students volunteer through their school's Sparrow Club, completing community service projects in their Sparrow's name; every service hour earns sponsor money for the child's family, and the program is free to schools. Teachers and schools can start a club, and businesses can sponsor a Sparrow project or support fundraisers like Dancing with the Central Oregon Stars.
All-volunteer Central Oregon group that has sent care packages to local service members deployed overseas or stationed at hardship posts since 2003. Volunteers pack boxes monthly at the Bend VFW post, filling them with donated snacks, hygiene items, cards, and letters so troops know their hometown is thinking of them. Families can sign up a service member with ties to Central Oregon.
Volunteers gather once a month to pack and address care packages for Central Oregon service members deployed or stationed far from home. Anyone can write cards and notes to include, and groups and businesses can run drives for snacks, hygiene items, and other comforts from home.
Jefferson County's primary Christmas gift program for kids facing hardship, run for 30+ years by the Madras Kiwanis Club and the Madras High Key Club. Working with Oregon DHS so each family is served once, Operation Rudolph brings gifts to roughly 200 families and 450–600 children a year, from Crooked River Ranch to Warm Springs. With Toys for Tots no longer operating in Central Oregon, the need has grown.
Volunteers wrap hundreds of gifts at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in December, with drop-in wrapping open to individuals, families, school leadership classes, and groups. Businesses can host gift-tag trees or toy drop boxes, and helpers collect donations from drop sites, shop, sort, and deliver gifts to families.
Central Oregon Baby Resources
also known as COBR
Central Oregon Baby Resources works to ensure every child from birth to age 5 has the daily essentials for a healthy and safe start in life. The Redmond nonprofit provides families with diapers, wipes, clothing, car seats, strollers, beds, toys, books, and food, working through caseworkers and family advocates, and relies on community donations of clothing and baby gear.
Volunteer opportunities are open to individuals and groups age 12 and older; volunteers 14 and under need an adult with them one-to-one. Volunteers help get donated clothing, baby gear, toys, and books ready for families. You can also host a donation drive or ask your employer about volunteer matching. Fill out the volunteer application to get started.
You haven't seen them all yet. There are more organizations below.