Thinking about taking on a service project as a family, but don’t know where to get started? We’ve put together a list of local, kid-friendly volunteering opportunities and organizations so you can choose the right fit for your family. Whether it’s visiting the elderly, making meals for the homeless, or helping animals in need, getting children involved in service projects at a young age helps them understand the needs of our community, builds empathy for others, and helps them feel empowered to make a difference. Volunteering with your kids also provides you with a beautiful way to spend quality time together. Without further adieu, here’s your list of opportunities to Volunteer in Austin with Kids:
— Austin Allies
Austin Allies’ goal is to organize meaningful volunteer opportunities for families in the Greater Austin area, partnering with local nonprofits and those that they serve. You can find their calendar online, which shows several volunteer opportunities for the whole family including such things as tote bag packing, school supply drives, and Barton Springs clean-ups. Join Austin Allies for their Book Club for kids in third through eighth grade held on the fourth Saturday of every month at BookPeople.
— Central Texas Food Bank
Nearly 46,000 Central Texans, 34 percent of them children and teens, are counting on the Central Texas Food Bank each week to get the nutritious food they need that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. The Food Bank knows that youth volunteers are great helpers but also learn valuable skills. They offer volunteer opportunities for kids as young as 8. Youth volunteers (ages 8-17) must be accompanied by an adult age 21 or older. Youth groups must bring one adult chaperone for every five youths under 18. Morning and afternoon shifts are available to youth volunteers Monday through Saturday as well as a family night on the first Tuesday of the month. To participate, you can sign up on their online registration system.
— Generation Serve
Generation Serve was created to make volunteering easier for families in Austin and to inspire lifelong volunteerism in children. When you visit the Generation Serve website, you’ll find an online activity calendar that offers different ways families can give back to the community. Generation Serve partners with 100 local nonprofit organizations each year. You may find opportunities listed like preparing meals for Ronald McDonald’s house, packing toiletry kits for SafePlace, crafting decorations to hang in the emergency room at Dell Children’s Hospital, and helping load trucks for Mobile Loaves & Fishes to deliver meals to homeless families. One thing to note about Generation Serve is that is extremely popular (with great reason!), so activities fill up very quickly with eager volunteers. It’s best to sign up for their email list so you can be notified first about open volunteer spots. Kids 3 and older can volunteer with their families, and there’s also a teen service program where older kids can volunteer with their peers.
— Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Mobile Loaves & Fishes has two different tracts for volunteering. There are many opportunities available at Community First! Village — a 27-acre master-planned community that provides affordable, sustainable housing, and a supportive community for the disabled, and chronically homeless. At Community First! Village, you can sign up for tasks like garden maintenance, rabbit and chicken coop care, meal distribution, grounds beautification, and more. Or you can opt to help the Food Truck Ministry which delivers meals to the homeless, including tasks such as prepping meals, delivering food, and even washing delivery trucks. All volunteers under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
— Meals on Wheels Central Texas
Meals on Wheels Central Texas is one of the largest meal-delivery organizations, distributing 3,000 meals each business day to homebound older adults and people with disabilities. Part of the Austin area community since 1972, they also offer many programs and services including home repairs; grocery shopping assistance; a monthly supply of shelf-stable groceries; veteran services; problem-solving therapies; Alzheimer’s respite care; and pet food and pet health care. If your kids don’t mind riding in the car with you on errands, they can be helpers with you to deliver meals to seniors and homebound adults. Check out this list of ways to get involved and look at this list of current needs to see if there’s a good fit for you.
Helping Animals
Austin Pets Alive! has a wide variety of volunteer projects for ages 12 and up. Click here to view the full list of options and volunteer requirements. You can also take a look at the programs at Austin Animal Center for ages 13 and up, as well as Austin Humane Society for ages 14 and up. As a family, you can also consider becoming a foster family for a pet, too.
For young animal lovers, Austin Humane Society offers a great FREE kids program called Humane Heroes (recommended for kids 14 and younger) where kids can get hands-on as they learn what it means to care for a pet of their own and be inspired to help animals in need. You can also check out more of the Austin Humane Society’s many kids’ programs (and birthday parties!) here.
Austin Beautification Projects
— Austin Parks Foundation
Austin Parks Foundation is a non-profit organization devoted to building partnerships to develop and maintain parks, trails, and open spaces in Austin and Travis County. Their website lists opportunities to sign up or to attend open work days. Please note: if you wish to bring children along, you are encouraged to carefully choose projects that will be suitable to your child’s abilities.
— Keep Austin Beautiful
This nonprofit organization’s goal is to educate and engage citizens in building more beautiful communities. Their largest volunteer effort, Keep Austin Beautiful Day, is a county-wide service day each April spanning 100+ sites in 31 zip codes in the greater Austin area. They also organized big community clean-ups, Lady Bird Lake clean-ups, and more. Families can also Adopt-a-Creek Austin. Click here for an overview of their volunteer opportunities.
There are so many local organizations seeking help from volunteers. If you have one in mind that isn’t on this list, drop it in the comments below!
Hungry souls is another great organization that you can volunteer with your children.