A lot of what keeps Seattle neighborly happens on volunteer time: the Saturday crew pulling ivy out of a ravine park, the driver taking an older neighbor to a medical appointment, the tutor helping a new arrival rehearse for a citizenship interview. If you’ve been meaning to give some of your own, these are good places to start.
We picked organizations with a clear way in: a working sign-up page, a stated time commitment where there is one, and a spread of causes, from food and forests to mentoring and music. Most ask for an application or orientation before your first shift, and a few take weeks to process, so sign up before you need the hours.
Updated November 2026
Green Seattle Partnership
Led by Seattle Parks and Recreation since 2005, the partnership restores the city’s forested parkland with community work parties almost every day of the year: pulling invasive plants, mulching young trees, and planting natives once planting season opens each fall, a kickoff it marks with Seattle Forest Week. Most events are open to everyone, and the ones marked “All ages OK” welcome kids, who can earn school service hours. If you want more, Forest Stewards take on a park long-term, with tools, plants and technical help from the partnership.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Attend
Time commitment: Single work parties you register for one at a time; Forest Stewards commit long-term. Seattle Parks’ own volunteer page covers ongoing roles at community centers and pools, which require an application and background check.
How to get involved · Seattle Parks volunteer roles
Food Lifeline
Food Lifeline works to get nourishing food to people across Western Washington through partner agencies and its own mobile food programs. The heart of its volunteer program is sort-and-repack shifts in its warehouse, plus ongoing teams for people who want a regular role. Volunteers can be as young as 10, with an adult alongside through age 15, so it works for families and work teams alike.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Donate
Time commitment: One-off shifts Monday through Saturday. Everyone registers individually in advance, kids included, and volunteers under 18 need a signed parent or guardian form.
Rainier Valley Food Bank
This neighborhood food bank on Rainier Avenue South, near the Rainier Beach light rail station, counted 137 volunteers a week in 2025. They hand out groceries, help with translation and serve on committees. Teens 12 and up can volunteer without a parent once a signed permission form is on file, and if you can’t make a shift, the food bank has a kit for hosting a packing party at home.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Donate
Time commitment: Single shifts booked online, Monday through Friday. First-timers fill out an intro form, and groups should apply at least three weeks ahead.
Mary’s Place
Mary’s Place shelters and supports families experiencing homelessness in King County, and volunteers work at its two Seattle family shelters and its donation center. Groups can also run a donation drive or assemble kits of everyday essentials. Around the holidays it collects gift cards, its greatest need, and new, unwrapped toys for kids up to age 12 at its South Lake Union warehouse; the holiday page lists each year’s drop-off dates.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Donate
How to get involved · Holiday giving
Seattle Animal Shelter
The City of Seattle’s shelter in Interbay has volunteer teams for nearly every part of its work: dog walking, the 9-Lives cat team, adoption support, enrichment prep, events and a pet food bank. Fostering is the flexible option, with no fixed schedule and stays that average about two months. Volunteers must be 18 or older.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Foster · Donate
Time commitment: In-shelter roles ask for one two-hour shift a week for six months, after required training. Applications are rolling, and review can take four to six weeks.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound
The regional chapter matches adult mentors one-to-one with young people across King, Pierce, Kitsap, Snohomish and Island counties. Community-based pairs plan their own time together, while site-based matches meet in staffed sessions at schools and partner workplaces. Screening is thorough: references, a video interview, background checks and two pre-match trainings.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Donate
Time commitment: About four hours a month. Mentors must be 18 or older.
Sound Generations
Sound Generations serves older adults in Seattle and King County, with more than 1,000 volunteers behind programs like Meals on Wheels and free rides to medical appointments. Volunteer drivers use their own cars, wait through the appointment and bring the rider home, so the job is as much company as transportation. Meals on Wheels also needs drivers, packers and people to make weekly check-in calls.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Donate
Time commitment: Drivers choose their own weekday days, times and areas and can change them week to week; they need to be 25 to 80, with no moving violations in the past two years. Meals on Wheels openings are tied to a set weekday, often a morning.
Literacy Source
Based in Lake City, Literacy Source offers free adult classes in English, citizenship test prep, GED and basic computer skills, and many of its students are immigrants and refugees. Volunteers tutor one-on-one, assist in classes of about 20, lead online conversation groups, or play the officer in practice citizenship interviews. Everyone starts with a Zoom orientation on the first Wednesday of the month, then 8 to 12 hours of online training.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Donate
Time commitment: Tutors and class assistants commit to about six months; conversation partners give an hour a week online during the term. Volunteers must be over 18.
KEXP
Seattle’s listener-supported nonprofit station broadcasts on 90.3 FM from its home at Seattle Center, and hundreds of volunteers help keep it running. Teams work in person in Seattle, in the Bay Area or remotely, and every opening is posted on KEXP’s Shiftboard page. Spots are competitive, at 20 to 40 applications per opening, but applications stay on file for the next one.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Donate
Time commitment: A few hours a month to a few hours a week, depending on the team; regulars usually take one shift a week. Volunteers must be 15 or older.
SCORE Washington State
SCORE’s volunteer mentors give small business owners free, confidential advice, and its Washington State chapter covers the Seattle–Tacoma–Everett area, Eastern and Northwest Washington, and Alaska. Business owners, working professionals and retirees can mentor one-on-one, teach workshops, advise on a specialty like finance, legal or marketing, or help run chapter events. If you’re a business owner yourself, the same chapter is where you go for a free mentor.
Ways to help: Volunteer · Donate · Spread the word
Time commitment: Skilled and ongoing. SCORE suggests mentors give 15 to 20 hours a month, scheduled around their own work.
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