Who Can Volunteer
Volunteer Opportunities for Teens (Ages 13–18)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Redemption House Ministries is Prineville's faith-based shelter and meals ministry for people experiencing homelessness. It runs Redemption House, a transitional shelter for women and families; Regeneration House, an overnight shelter with nightly dinner for men; and Craig's Compassionate Café, a community café where anyone can get a hot meal for a token price or by trading a chore, with volunteers also bringing meals to people living in camps. It also offers a food pantry and case management.
Volunteers cook and serve at Craig's Compassionate Café, help bring meals out to people living in camps, prepare dinners and sack breakfasts for shelter guests, sort donations and stock the food pantry, and help with facility upkeep and events. Church and community groups can sign up to provide meals.
Broken Arrow Ranch & Sanctuary
also known as BARS, Bend Wild Horse Sanctuary, Blissful Heart wild horse sanctuary
High desert sanctuary near Bend for rescued horses, burros, and mules, many of them saved from slaughter, abuse, or neglect, sharing its land with Broken Arrow Ranch, an equine-inspired wellness destination. Alongside caring for the herd, the nonprofit restores the land through regenerative practices, including the Pole Creek restoration project. It is supported in part by the Blissful Heart Wellness Center in downtown Bend, whose boutique proceeds help care for the horses.
Volunteers help with daily feeding, watering, and grooming of rescued horses, burros, and mules, barn upkeep and repairs, and fence building. Land stewards work on soil health and erosion control and replace invasive plants with natives, and others help at community events and educational tours or create photos and social media. Adults and teens are welcome, with special programs for youth groups, service clubs, and corporate teams.
Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity ReStore
also known as Bend ReStore
The Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a nonprofit home improvement store and donation center selling donated new and reclaimed building materials, furniture, appliances, and home goods at a fraction of retail price. It keeps nearly 3 million pounds of usable materials out of the landfill each year, and its proceeds cover Habitat's administrative costs so donations can go straight to building affordable homes. The Central Oregon Tool Library operates from its parking lot.
ReStore volunteers work alongside staff on regular shifts: cashiering, greeting shoppers, receiving and sorting donations, merchandising and setting up displays, and helping keep the store running. Volunteers 16+ can serve on their own; ages 14–15 alongside a parent or guardian.
Serving Sisters Country since 1977 with a focus on youth. The club runs the all-volunteer Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank, awards scholarships to Sisters High School seniors, supports youth and family programs like Circle of Friends, Family Access Network, and Sisters Park & Recreation, and manages a Career Opportunity Fund. 100% of funds raised go to local causes.
Members staff and stock the Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank, and the club runs community events that need lots of hands: the Buckaroo Breakfast at the Sisters Rodeo grounds, the Hoodoo Challenge Run to the Top, and the Make-A-Date raffle. Members also help steer the club's scholarships and youth grants. Meets the first and third Wednesdays at noon.
Founded in 1961, the Humane Society of Central Oregon runs Bend's animal shelter, caring for thousands of abandoned, neglected, and stray companion animals each year and never turning an animal away. Beyond adoptions, HSCO reunites lost pets with their families, offers low-cost spay/neuter and wellness care, runs the HOPE Pet Food Bank to help keep pets in their homes, and brings humane education to schools and community events. Its thrift store helps fund the work.
Volunteers work directly with shelter animals and visitors — grooming and enriching cats through the Feline Friends program, walking and socializing adoptable dogs as Canine Companions, greeting shelter visitors, assisting adoption counselors both on-site and at off-site adoption events, and providing clerical support. Volunteers can start as young as 9 with a guardian.
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.
Sisters Trails Alliance
also known as STA
Sisters Trails Alliance connects people and communities to each other and their natural surroundings through stewardship of multi-use, non-motorized trails and adjacent wild spaces in Sisters Country. Under a volunteer service agreement with the Sisters Ranger District, it manages and maintains some 200 miles of trails for hikers, bikers, runners, and equestrians, almost all on the Deschutes National Forest, and is working with the Forest Service, COTA, and others on the STAR project to add new trails around Sisters.
More than 350 volunteers a year give 3,200+ hours: trail work parties that brush trails, log out fallen trees, and restore eroded areas; Adopt-a-Trail stewards who inspect and maintain an assigned section; winter crews who ready Nordic and snowshoe trails and stock the Jefferson shelter with firewood; plus race aid stations and distributing the Sisters trail map. No membership or experience needed; tools and training provided. Volunteers with 16+ hours earn a Northwest Forest Pass.
You haven't seen them all yet. There are more organizations below.