This environmental nonprofit keeps Portland’s outdoor spaces and waterways free of litter and waste through cleanup and restoration projects, from trail maintenance to invasive species removal. For its eighth annual Waterway Cleanup Series, volunteers removed over 31,000 pounds of litter from rivers, streams, and creeks across Oregon between May and October 2025. Groups or individuals can lead their own events, sign up for an array of projects on SOLVE’s calendar, or volunteer from home using the nonprofit’s DIY cleanup kits to remove litter at your convenience. Check out its event calendar here.

For nearly 40 years, Friends of Trees has played a major role in keeping our neighborhoods, parks, and natural areas healthy by supplying them with saplings. To date, the organization has planted over 1 million trees across the state. Within a few hours, you, too, could get your hands dirty and plant a tree at its seasonal planting events, or contribute on two or four wheels by transporting trees with your own truck or bike. Sign up to volunteer here.

Each year since 1925, the Bird Alliance of Oregon has hosted the Christmas Bird Count at various locations across the Portland metro region to monitor bird populations for urban conservation efforts. Volunteers can sign up to be field observers, but be prepared to walk a lot, bring your own binoculars, and dress warm. Alternatively, potential volunteers can participate in year-round greenspace surveys of birds in Washington County, or spend a weekend restoring critical bird habitats in Eastern Oregon. But those hoping to help from home can remotely volunteer as an activist and speak up about conservation issues and state legislation through letter-writing campaigns and testimony. Apply to volunteer here.

In 1970, a group of community members came together to preserve the 660 acres of Tryon Creek, an urban second-growth forest just 15 minutes outside Portland. That group became a nonprofit that’s still active today, and its mission to safeguard the park would not be possible without the hundreds of volunteers who tend to the land. In 2024, nearly 400 volunteers gave over 5,400 hours to park events and stewardship. Interested volunteers can sign up for projects dedicated to ivy removal, tree planting, trail maintenance, and native seed processing. You can also become a volunteer field trip nature guide and lead youth on educational hikes, or apply to become a Nature Center Ambassador and welcome visitors to the park. Check out the event calendar for opportunities to get involved, and sign up to volunteer here. 

Outfitted with stethoscopes and backpacks filled with medical supplies, toiletries, socks, and Trimet tickets, this volunteer clinical team brings care directly to Portland’s unhoused community members. The coalition is composed of medical providers, social workers, care coordinators, and concerned neighbors, who handle first aid and wound care, treat chronic medical conditions, and connect patients with specialty care. The organization sends out a street medicine team three to five days a week, and volunteers for its street teams must commit to a minimum of two shifts per month. Other volunteers work with its Public Health Outreach Team, who may help with vaccinations or clinical observers, and the Community Health Education Team, who assist and lead first aid and Narcan trainings; both require a minimum of one shift per month. To get involved, reach out to the Volunteer Coordinator, Janell Watt, [email protected]. 

Founded by volunteers in 1983, CAP still relies on donated time and labor as the oldest and largest community-based provider of HIV services, housing, education, and advocacy in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Nearly 600 volunteers support the organization each year, whether they're delivering furniture to locals living with AIDS or helping organize its annual AIDS Walk Northwest. CAP is currently recruiting for two main volunteering opportunities: one-time and ongoing support at Esther’s Pantry in Milwaukie, which offers food and personal care items to people living with HIV, and at Our House of Portland, a residential care facility where volunteers can help with client recreation and accompany residents to medical appointments. To volunteer, email [email protected].

PPCW opened its first health center in downtown Portland in 1963. Today, the organization runs several centers across Oregon and Southwest Washington, covering a wide range of sexual and reproductive health care services such as birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, abortion services, and gender affirming care. Its volunteers do everything from assembling safer sex kits at PPCW’s monthly drop-in events to greeting and escorting patients to and from its health centers. If you can make a longer, six-month commitment, the organization is looking for volunteers to assist with cleaning, inventory, and administrative tasks at its health centers, and outreach volunteers to represent PPCW at events and fundraisers. The organization also encourages college students to apply to become ambassadors and promote sexual and reproductive health care on campus. Learn more here. 

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is one of the country’s largest grassroots mental health organizations. Its Multnomah County branch serves the community through its mental health support groups, peer-led educational events, and classes. Trained volunteers lead these programs following NAMI’s peer-support model, meaning group facilitators are people with similar lived experiences. The organization is currently seeking college students for internships that support its short term grants and program- or community-specific outreach such as its English- and Spanish-speaking parent support groups. In the spring, NAMI will begin recruiting volunteers to help with its annual fundraiser, NAMIWALKS, which takes place each May.

With rising food insecurity in the US, Urban Gleaners has stepped up to the plate by reducing food waste—unused, fresh, and nutritious food from local businesses and farms—and redistributing it to community members in need. The nonprofit sources food from donor restaurants, grocery stores, corporate campuses, event sites, colleges and universities, farms, and food wholesalers across the Portland metro region. Volunteers play an important role in this “gleaning” process: They pick up small donations from grocery stores and restaurants, sort and package donated food at Urban Gleaners’ Central Portland warehouse, and support its Free Food Markets in Multnomah and Washington counties. For those hoping to get in the field (literally), the Farm Glean Team is the latest addition to the organization's volunteer program; every week, volunteers visit one of its donor farm sites to harvest excess and unmarketable produce, which is then sent out to its Free Food Markets. You can find shifts and sign up on the website.

Since 2020, this organization has focused on eliminating food insecurity, providing housing assistance (currently on hold due to funding constraints), and supporting the education and wellness of Portland’s Black community through its community-supported agriculture (CSA) boxes, weekly free market pop-ups for Black and brown families, pre- and postpartum activities and trainings, walking groups, and more. Those interested in supporting EGC’s programming can sign up online. Volunteers assist with a variety of tasks, such as assembling care packages, helping with yard work in its Black Elder Gardens, and fundraising. To work with its food program, you must have volunteered at least five times in another EGC program.

This working urban farm in Powellhurst-Gilbert promotes equitable food systems through its educational and farming apprenticeship programs, a sliding-scale CSA program, and its CSA Partnerships for Health with Multnomah County, which delivers organic produce to low-income families. From March to October, the organization enlists volunteers for weekly shifts that span its 24-acre farm, from supporting its farm team with weeding and harvesting to stewarding the native plants and gardens. You can register online for its Native Plant Work party. As the seasons change, Zenger Farm looks for volunteers to help with weeding, transplanting, and harvesting food at its Fall Harvest Party and event support during its Spring for Zenger and Día de los Muertos celebrations.

This Portland nonprofit feeds BIPOC communities while also teaching and empowering them to grow their own food through its hands-on farm education programs. The organization welcomes volunteers to help with weeding, planting, seeding, and harvesting at its Rockwood Village Farm—where it also distributes free, locally sourced produce from its storeroom on Friday afternoons. To get involved, sign up here.

As the only day shelter and community center in downtown Portland specifically serving women, children, and gender nonconforming people, Rose Haven regularly sees long lines extend from its front door. In 2024, the nonprofit offered care and respite to 4,294 people, including 870 children. Rose Haven aims to break the cycle of homelessness and meet its guests’ needs by offering healthy meals, clothing, first aid, laundry, showers, and educational programs. The nonprofit hosts corporate group volunteer opportunities twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays at its shelter. Volunteers may assist with a range of tasks, such as sorting clothing, hygiene product distribution, cleaning, organizing donations, and assembling snack bags. Other ways to get involved include volunteering in Rose Haven’s kitchen, its clothing shop, guest services, donation reception, and more. Apply to be a volunteer here. Those interested in group volunteer opportunities can email Angel Stech at [email protected].

In 1952, Blanchet House opened as a “House of Hospitality” to care for the city’s vulnerable populations. Today, the nonprofit serves three free meals a day, six days a week and distributes clean clothing and hygiene items at its Founders Cafe in Old Town. In addition to its meal services, Blanchet House operates a free clothing closet on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays during the lunch service. The nonprofit is looking for volunteers throughout the week to sort donations, organize clothing, and assist with distribution on service days. Those interested in volunteering can sign up online. You can also get involved with Blanchet House from home by assembling care kits, making sack lunches, and donating clothing, sleeping essentials, food, and refundable cans and bottles.

For 22 years, Rahab’s Sisters has served Portland’s women, trans, and nonbinary community members “experiencing poverty, houselessness, and isolation.” The organization hosts weekly restaurant-style dinners, self-serve lunch and social time on Wednesdays, drop-in themed boutiques, and individual appointments with its Community Health Team. Volunteer opportunities occur throughout the week to assist with flower pickups, Friday community gatherings, open house events, Thursday holistic health clinics, and its Wednesday drop-in boutique. Apply to volunteer and sign up for a shift here.

This nonprofit works to prevent and end youth homelessness through housing, education, employment, and supportive services. It is currently recruiting volunteers to support its drop-in space, its LGBTQ+ youth program (SMYRC), and one-time or recurring group service projects, such as assembling hygiene kits and sorting donations. Many volunteer roles are youth-facing and require training as well as background checks. New volunteers can reach out to [email protected] to be added to the waitlist.

AMP serves Portland youth experiencing homelessness through the power of music, education, and mentorship. The nonprofit offers a wide range of programming, from group jam sessions to screen-printing workshops to essential support services like meals and hygiene supplies. AMP is looking for passionate community members to support its fundraising and resource drives, drop-in center maintenance and organization, office tasks and event coordination, and mentors for music and art activities with youth.

Dedicated to breaking cycles of racial trauma and fostering collective healing for Black, brown, and Indigenous Portlanders, Brown Hope launched in 2018 with initiatives like its Black Resilience Fund. Volunteering at Brown Hope occurs through its Action Team, a collaborative space for community members to support its mission of racial healing. Those interested in volunteering can participate in three different action groups: the Solidarity Squad’s mutual-aid network, the Healing and Spirituality group, and community social events. The Action Team meets monthly on the fourth Tuesday of each month, from 6:30–8:30pm on Zoom. Sign up for the Action Team here.

Since 1996, this organization has strived to uplift Multnomah County’s Latine youth, families, and community. In 2024, the organization served over 13,600 participants through a spectrum of programs, services, and advocacy like its early childhood education program, SUN Community Schools, and its Youth Empowerment & Violence Prevention department for at-risk Latine youth. Current volunteering opportunities include supporting Latino Network with events, its SUN program with Portland Public Schools and Reynolds School District, and its food pantries at Rigler Elementary School and Reynolds Middle School. Apply to volunteer here.