Mile High United Way’s Volunteer Connection
Part of the United Way movement founded in 1887 in Denver, Mile High United Way connects people and strengths communities through volunteer engagement. Below are opportunities available in our communities in Boulder and Broomfield counties. Become a member at volunteer.unitedwaydenver.org/group/events/8945 to search our site for other opportunities, including those in the rest of Mile High United Way’s service area in the greater Denver area, or email the Mile High United Way Team at [email protected] with questions or to include your nonprofits’ volunteer needs here.
A Precious Child
This nonprofit, whose mission is to empower disadvantaged youth by providing them with opportunities and resources to reach their full potential, needs volunteers. Volunteers are the core of of A Precious Child’s work — more than 6,700 volunteers who donate hundreds of hours of service is needed annually to fulfill its mission. Individuals, corporate groups, churches and community organizations are welcome. The nonprofit is in need of baby wipes, masks, cleaning supplies, hygiene items, spray bottles and diapers. For more information email [email protected].
Boulder County AARP Tax Aide
Volunteers are needed to help low- to moderate-income taxpayers prepare their federal and State of Colorado tax returns. Extensive training is provided, and the program leads to IRS certification for tax preparation. Volunteers also are needed to help organize and support the tax preparers, and to schedule appointments and greet clients. Over 35,000 volunteers in this national program help to prepare millions of returns, with an emphasis on helping those over age 50. For more information and to sign up to help, visit aarp.org/volunteer/programs/tax-aide/ .
Boulder Seniors Foundation
This nonprofit supports older adults in the Boulder community with emergency assistance for rent and utilities, WiFi access, medical, dental, optometry, hearing and counseling expenses. In addition, the foundation co-sponsors educational and other programs at the Age Well Center, 909 Arapahoe Ave. in Boulder, at the intersection of 9th Street and Arapahoe Avenue. Any donation helps keep Boulder’s older adults safely in their homes and helps them avoid food insecurity. Information at boulderseniorsfoundation.org.
Boulder Shelter
Most needed items at this time are sugar, coffee, hand sanitizer, masks, Tylenol/Advil/Aspirin, cough and cold medicine (alcohol free), laundry detergent, soap, travel-sized shampoo, body wash and lotion and vitamins. Things can be ordered online and delivered to Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, 4869 N. Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80304. Monetary donations are also accepted at www.bouldershelter.org or by mailing a check to the address above.
Boulder Treasures
Help transform the lives of adults living with developmental disabilities. You might know us through our job training apprentice program hosted at Ramble on Pearl. Our parent nonprofit, Boulder Treasures, creates pathways to purpose and community, and we’re growing with new programs and services that came online in 2021. Do you enjoy writing, telling stories, making media, setting up email marketing systems, or do you simply want to be part of a fantastic team having fun and making the world a better place by walking alongside this amazing group of people? Check us out at www.rambleonpearl.com or contact us at [email protected]. We could use your help spreading the word — join us today!
Bridge House
Volunteers are invited to help support people transitioning out of homelessness into employment and housing by becoming a mentor, volunteering in its kitchen, helping serve food or choosing another volunteer opportunity. Donations also are needed, including sunscreen, bug repellant, toiletries, and other specific weather-related items. For information or to volunteer, email [email protected].
Broomfield FISH
A grocery store donation box is available at King Soopers on 120th and Sheridan, Hwy. 287 or 136th and Zuni and at Safeway on 144th and Lowell as well as Sprouts on 120th and Sheridan. Top needs are cereal, oatmeal, mac n cheese, Spaghettios, canned meat and peanut butter. For more information go to www.broomfieldfish.org or mail donations to 6 Garden Center, Broomfield, CO, 80020.
Cake4Kids
This nonprofit that provides birthday cakes to at-risk and foster youth needs creative at-home bakers. Volunteers should have good baking and decorating skills. No minimum volunteer commitment is required. Volunteers must be 18 years old or older, but teens ages 16 or 17 can participate alongside a parent or guardian. Sign up for an orientation at www.cake4kids.org or email [email protected] with any questions.
Circle of Care
An arts and aging nonprofit that works to end isolation for older, vulnerable adults through arts, culture, lifelong learning accessibility and intergenerational social belonging is seeking volunteers who love the performing arts and older people to serve as performance companions who help older adults attend great concerts and events. Tickets are provided for free to Circle of Care volunteer driver/escorts. Volunteers must wear a mask at all times with clients and must be highly responsible and dependable. Volunteers who will drive clients must be at least 21 years or older with an excellent driving record. Volunteers must provide proof they are fully vaccinated with their current COVID vaccine card, and show a driver’s license and auto insurance information. Volunteers also must attend an orientation. For more information, call or email Joan Raderman at 303-358-4300 or [email protected] for more information. Details at circleofcareproject.org.
Cultivate
Volunteers are needed to support senior neighbors through programs such as rides to medical appointments for military veterans and their senior family members; grocery shopping and delivery; minor home repairs; snow shoveling and yard cleanup. Opportunities available throughout Boulder and Broomfield counties. Visit cultivate.ngo/engage/volunteer or call our office at 303-443-1933.
Feet Forward
An all-inclusive, nonprofit organization in Boulder, Feet Forward is providing individuals experiencing homelessness with increased access to hot food, beverages, clothing and toiletries. These are available every Tuesday near the Glen Huntington Bandshell between Broadway and Canyon from 2:30-4 p.m. For information on how to help or contribute, visit feetforward.org or email [email protected].
Flatirons Habitat for Humanity
We are currently working on two new home construction sites in Boulder that will provide affordable homes for 22 families. Come as an individual or as a group, and there is no need for prior construction experience. We will provide all necessary tools, training and instruction. For more information, including a list of available volunteer opportunities, visit our volunteer portal at flatironshabitat.volunteerhub.com. If you have specific questions or would like to schedule group builds, contact [email protected], or call Pam at 303-667-6474.
Harvest of Hope Food Pantry
This nonprofit provides healthy, supplemental food to people in need of food assistance within a safe, welcoming, and non-judgmental environment. Its most-needed food items are cans of black beans, red beans, chicken, shelf-stable alternative milks, dry pastas, and travel-sized toiletries including shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, toothpaste, sunscreen and razors. Find out more about hosting a food drive at hopepantry.org/fooddrive. Donations are accepted between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday at the pantry’s new location, 4830 Pearl St., Boulder. Ring the bell at the loading dock on the east side of the building. Consider volunteering, hopepantry.org/volunteer. Volunteers work in small groups, greeting participants, packing bags, stocking, weighing donations, and helping with other tasks. Donations can also be made at hopepantry.org/donate.
Impact on Education
Impact on Education supports Boulder Valley public schools with community funding and
resources in order to meet critical needs and eliminate opportunity gaps. They have ongoing opportunities for volunteers to support their programs and events, and also help recruit
volunteers for school-based needs. Visit www.impactoneducation.org/volunteer to learn more or
sign-up for volunteer orientation.
Intercambio Uniting Communities
Volunteer teachers are needed to help adult English learners improve their English. There are students who live in Boulder County and all over the U.S. waiting to connect with volunteer teachers. Curriculum, training and ongoing support are provided to volunteer teachers. Volunteers commit to meeting with a student for 90 minutes twice a week. Volunteer from anywhere in the U.S.! Visit Intercambio.org/teach or contact [email protected] with any questions.
Jewish Family Service
Volunteers are sought to improve the lives of individuals and families in need by takin an integrated approach to delivering comprehensive support services. The Boulder office helps clients maintain a high quality of life through programs and services that support, connect and engage them. Volunteers are needed for the Friendly Visitor, JFS Ambassadors and Para-Chaplains programs.
• Friendly Visitor volunteers will be paired with an older adult for weekly visits to reduce social isolation. The one-on-one relationship is meaningful to both the client and the volunteer and can lead to lifelong friendship. Volunteers for this program are interviewed, trained and supported to ensure a good match.
• JFS Ambassadors volunteers are paired with an older adult living facility. Volunteers, who should enjoy coordinating small events while reaching out to those who may be socially isolated, will liaise between JFS and the facility staff to support Jewish holidays and add enriching cultural programs.
• Para-Chaplains volunteers will help provide Jewish holiday celebrations at older adult living facilities and may also work one-on-one with unaffiliated Jews who are facing life challenges. Volunteers will be trained for this program.
Anyone interested in volunteering for any of these programs should contact Nicole Hosack at [email protected].
Longmont Meals on Wheels
This nonprofit at 910 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont; is seeking weekly drivers, substitute drivers and kitchen helpers. Visit www.Longmontmeals.org/volunteer or call 303-772-0540 to volunteer.
Longmont Public Safety
Adult volunteers are needed for its Citizen Volunteer Patrol (CVP), Victim Advocates, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and Front Range Chaplains and as general support to public safety staff. Youth also can volunteer as college interns working with line level staff and middle or high school students can get involved with the Police Explorers. Additional information and application information can be found by visiting www.longmontcolroado.gov and searching “public safety volunteers’ or by calling 303-774-4440.
Meals on Wheels of Boulder
Volunteer drivers for weekday meal deliveries are sought, as are early morning packers. Volunteers also are sought for its Eat Well Café at the Age Well Center West, 909 Araopahoe Ave., Boulder. Servers are needed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Volunteer cashiers in the Niche Market at the northeast Boulder location, 3701 Canfield St. Boulder; also are needed. Those interested should email Lisa at [email protected].
Moving to End Sexual Assault
Volunteer Hotline Advocates are needed to provide support for people that call and text our hotline, and to accompany survivors to the hospital for medical attention and to the police department to file a report. A 40-hour training over a three-week period is offered 2-3 times each year. Training includes topics such as how to support and advocate for callers in crisis, the impacts of sexual violence, and the local resources available to survivors. Contact Gabe at [email protected] or 303-443-8500 x1462 for more information, or fill out an online application at movingtoendsexualassault.org/volunteer/hotline-advocate-application/
OUR Center
Food donations, especially protein items and toiletries, in both family and travel size, are needed. Cash donations can be made at ourcenter.org/donate or mailed to 220 Collyer St., Longmont, CO, 80501. Contact Elaine at [email protected] for questions.
Sister Carmen Community Center
This center needs volunteers for its food bank, thrift store, garden and front desk. Opportunities include weekly shifts in the food bank and drop-in shifts in the thrift store and garden, after training, and scheduled shifts on the front desk.
• Volunteer tasks in the food bank include welcoming donors, receiving and weighing donations, sorting food donations, checking expiration dates, stocking shelves, repackaging bulk donations, assisting with coolers, carts and check-out, recycling and composting, and assisting clients as they shop for food. Food bank volunteers are asked to make a three-month commitment, with shifts available from 9-11:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 2-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 4:30-6 p.m. Wednesdays.
• Volunteer tasks in the thrift store include sorting and hanging clothing, putting priced items on the sales floor and merchandising. Volunteers can drop in from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
• Tasks in the garden include planting, weeding, watering, composting, harvesting produce, and making flower bouquets. Drop-in hours are from 9-11:30 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays at 655 Aspen Ridge. Closed-toe shoes required for garden volunteers.
• Front desk volunteers will be trained to work shifts on weekdays. Spanish speakers encouraged to volunteer.
COVID-19 vaccines are required for all volunteers. Please see our website sistercarmen.org and contact [email protected] or call 303-665-4342 ext. 142 to volunteer.
Tgthr
Formerly called Attention Homes, this agency is in need of volunteers to donate hot dinners for youth residing at its facilities. Volunteers can visit the Tgthr website to learn more and sign-up to donate a meal: tgthr.org/meal-donations/. It also is in need of in-kind donations of nonperishables such as soups, Tasty Bites, rice, Chef Boyardee products, instant flavored oatmeal, Pop Tarts, tuna and other canned meats, ramen, mac-n-cheese cups, fruit cups, peanut butter and granola bars. It also can accept donations of shelf-stable fruit such as bananas, clementines, oranges and apples, and donations of paper products such as toilet paper and paper towels, cleaning supplies like Lysol wipes and hand sanitizer, and cold-weather items such as hand/toe warmers and gloves. Donated items can be dropped off from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1440 Pine St., Suite A, Boulder. For questions about the 10th annual Sleep Out or other volunteer opportunities, contact Tgthr’s Volunteer Manager Kathryn Quinn, at [email protected].
Thorne Nature Experience
Volunteers are needed to help a small group of second graders watch birds, catch critters, use a compass, or even eat grasshoppers during its Nature Field Trips. Opportunities are weekly from Sept. 8 to Oct. 28. Trips are from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Boulder and Longmont. Contact Sarah Grove, [email protected] or 303-499-3647 to sign up.
TRU Thrift Shop
Earnings support compassionate end-of-life care, grief support, and education. The nonprofit thrift shop needs volunteers to sort donations in the following departments: clothing, electronics, furniture, household items, art, books, and linens. All donations are processed for quality, pricing and displaying. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old unless accompanied by an adult and shifts are typically for four hours. Contact Lynn McCullough at [email protected] or 303-604-5353 for more information.
Virtual volunteer opportunities
• The Boulder Seniors Foundation (BSF): Volunteers are needed to join its board of directors in supporting Boulder’s Older Adult Services and the Age Well Centers. BSF provides Boulder’s citizens with a way to make tax-deductible donations specifically to benefit Boulder’s older adults. It provides funds to assist low-income older adults with emergency expenses and also sponsor programs of interest (nutrition classes, 55+ job fair, Chautauquan lecture series) for all older adults. Visit the website at boulderseniorsfoundation.org or call 720-267-6933.
• Sister Carmen: Community members are invited to host virtual friends and family food drive. Information: sistercarmen.org/food-donations.
