6 Easy Ways to Volunteer with Kids

1. Conduct a canned food drive. Walk around your neighborhood knocking on doors collecting canned food. Then take the food to your local food bank or food collection site.  A few of options: Oregon Food Bank or Sunshine Pantry.

2. Feed the Homeless. Make sandwiches and bag lunches of nutritious food. Then offer them to homeless people you meet around town. A guaranteed heart warmer for all!

3. Collect Supplies:  Spend a few hours collecting and distributing items needed for homeless shelters.  A couple organizations in need of supplies include: Goose Hollow Family Shelter,  Transition Projects. Check their websites to find out what is needed now.

4. Meal Delivery:  Teach your children the importance of helping those in need by bringing them along to drop off meals or food baskets to people who cannot easily leave their homes.  Volunteer with Loaves & Fishes Meals on Wheels Program or Store to Door.

5. Gardening/Tree Planting:  Planting, weeding, and helping maintain school, community and public gardens around the city are great ways to get the family working together outside! Check out Zenger Farm or Portland Parks and Recreation.

6. Kids' Book Drive: Collect used children's books at your school or church or neighborhood to donate to kids in the Greater Portland area who do not have access to books. An organization that distributes books to Head Start programs in the area is The Children's Book Bank. 

 

How to sign up for projects:

The best way to sign up your family for a project is by creating a family Volunteer Team:

1.     First, log in to your account at Register / Login.

2.     Click “Create a Volunteer Team,” and create your family team - please include an e-mail address for each team member who is 13 years or older. Please use parent's email and phone number for children younger than 13.

3.    Return to this project’s page and click “Select One of my Teams” (below the “Sign Me Up” button) to sign up individual family team members for the project. 

4.     If it turns out any team members can’t make it, please remove them from the project to open up those slots to other volunteers.