Community Volunteering
Community Volunteering
Stanford has a plethora of service programs and student service organizations. However, if you want to find your own opportunity for volunteering off campus, the following websites are useful resources for exploring nonprofit organizations and volunteer opportunities in our local community and beyond. These may be useful in identifying opportunities for individual or group volunteer opportunities, as well as potential Community Service Work-Study or fellowship placements:
Resources:
- The Bay Area Progressive Directory (search for nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area)
- Hands on Bay Area (group volunteer opportunities in Bay Area)
- GivePulse (volunteer opportunities)
- Great Nonprofits (search for nonprofits throughout the U.S.)
- GuideStar (search for nonprofits throughout the U.S.)
- Idealist (volunteer and internship opportunities U.S. and abroad)
- Volunteer.gov (volunteer opportunities throughout the U.S.)
- VolunteerMatch (volunteer opportunities throughout the U.S.)
Local organizations that need volunteers:
Community Organizing/Civic Engagement
- All Hands and Hearts - Smart Response (Various)
- Day Worker Center of Mountain View (Mountain View) (5.8mi)
- Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (Redwood City) (6.4mi)
Education/Youth Development
- All Students Matter (East Palo Alto)
- Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula (East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City)
- Citizen Schools (Bay Area)
- Coaching Corps (Bay Area)
- College Track (East Palo Alto) (5.5mi)
- Dream Catchers (Palo Alto) (1.6mi)
- East Palo Alto Academy (East Palo Alto) (4.7mi)
- East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring (East Palo Alto) (1.1mi)
- Fresh Lifelines for Youth (San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Oakland)
- Get Involved Palo Alto (Palo Alto)
- Jr. Museum and Zoo (Palo Alto) (4.5mi)
- Peninsula Bridge (Bay Area) (2.6mi)
- Ravenswood Education Foundation (East Palo Alto) (4.3mi)
- Sequoia High School - Academic Tutoring & Leadership (ATLAS) (Redwood City) (7.7mi)
- StreetcodeAcademy (East Palo Alto) (7.7mi)
- Youth Community Service (East Palo Alto) (5.9mi)
Environment
- Acterra (Palo Alto) (5.9mi)
- Belle Haven Action (Menlo Park)
- California State Parks Foundation (Various)
- Canopy (Palo Alto) (5.9mi)
- Citizens' Climate Education
- Climate Resilient Communities (East Palo Alto) (5.8 mi)
- Communities for a Better Environment (East Oakland, Richmond)
- EcoMagic (Palo Alto) (1.7mi)
- Environmental Volunteers (5.1 miles)
- Grassroots Ecology (Palo Alto) (5.9mi)
- Jasper Ridge Farm (Woodside) (4.0mi)
- North Fair Oaks Community Alliance (North Fair Oaks)
- Save the Bay (Oakland) (35.6mi)
- Sustainable San Mateo County (San Mateo) (16.2 mi)
- Thrive Alliance (Redwood City) (11.5 mi)
- Vida Verde (Bay Area) (21.1mi)
Food Access/Hunger
- Challah for Hunger@ Stanford (Stanford)
- Fresh Approach (Bay Area)
- Padua Dining Room (Menlo Park) (5.4mi)
- Pie Ranch (Pescadero)
- Second Harvest Food Bank (Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties)
- Stanford Breakfast Club (Menlo Park; Palo Alto) (3.6mi; 2.8mi)
- Valley Verde (San Jose) (19.7 mi)
Health
- SIRUM (Palo Alto) (2.8mi)
- Ravenswood Family Health Center (East Palo Alto) (5.8mi)
- There With Care (Redwood City) (6.1mi)
Human Rights/Social Services
- AnnieCannons (San Francisco)
- Avenidas (Palo Alto) (5.8mi)
- Benetech (Palo Alto or remotely) (2.5mi)
- Fresh Lifelines for Youth (Oakland)
- Habitat for Humanity (Redwood City) (4.2mi)
- Heart and Home Collaborative (Palo Alto)
- LifeMoves (Menlo Park) (3.9mi)
- Nuestra Casa (East Palo Alto) (4.6 mi)
- Ronald McDonald House (Bay Area) (2.2mi)
- Rosalie Rendu Center (East Palo Alto) (5.3mi)
- San Francisco Friendship House of American Indians, Inc. (San Francisco)
- Skate MD (Bay Area)
Want to start your own service project? Take a look at this Service Planning Manual to help you started!
Note that the Haas Center is providing this information as a resource for our students. We do not have direct experience with nor professionally endorse the programs and organizations listed in this section. It is the responsibility of the applicant to do web-based research and speak with program representatives and former participants before applying.
For more information, please contact HaasAdvising@stanford.edu.