Community Engagement Opportunities
On-Going On-Campus Volunteer Opportunities
GVSU Sustainable Agriculture Project
Check out this great opportunity right on GVSU's campus.
- Tuesdays and Fridays, 12:00 to 3:00p.m.
- Thursdays, 9:00a.m. to 12:00p.m.
You can find more information on the SAP through their Visit & Volunteer page.
Fall 2022 Community Engagement Opportunities
Kent County Parks
- Native Species Planting at Dwight Lydell Park
- Help plant hundreds of native plants in a prairie habitat site between the paved trail and stream! To register, send an email to [email protected].
- Saturday, September 17th
- 10:00a.m. to 12:00p.m.
- Invasive Species Workshop/Project @ Townsend Park
- Learn to ID various woody invasive species and help find and remove these species from the habitat sites at Townsend Park. To register, send an email to [email protected].
- Saturday, September 24th
- 10:00a.m. to 12:00p.m.
- More fall Stewardship Days, habitat support workshops and events, and Girl Scout Tree Promise days
- Groups, teams and scout troops are also invited to contact Volunteer Services to plan your own habitat support service day! To register for event dates, ask questions, or to plan a group service day contact [email protected].
- Posted at kentcountyparks.org/events.
2022 Volunteer Opportunities
Grand Rapids Volunteer Opportunities
Community Rebuilders
Date and Time: Ongoing opportunity.
Description: Volunteers support Community Rebuilders by helping us transform a place to live into a home. Volunteers will assist with furniture and household goods pickup, delivery, and organization. Always focused on housing as the solution to homelessness, Community Rebuilders' volunteers are also advocates for housing as a basic human right.
Website: https://communityrebuilders.org/about/volunteer/
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks
Date and Time: September 21 - November 5, 2022, different days and time slots are available throughout this time period.
Description: Depending on the season, you have the opportunity to beautify flowerbeds, plant trees, prune street trees, or clean up a park.
Contact: If interested, please contact Keely Moriarty
Website: https://friendsofgrparks.org/get-involved/volunteer/.
Heart of West Michigan United Way
Date and Time: Ongoing opportunity.
Description: Projects include meal preparation, painting, landscaping and yardwork, and event supports.
Contact: If interested, please contact them here.
Website: https://www.hwmuw.org/day-of-caring
Kids' Food Basket - Kent County
Date and Time: Ongoing opportunity.
Description: Participate in various volunteer activities like decorating and packing sack suppers, delivering sack suppers, farm volunteerism, and more.
Contact: If interested, please contact Damon.
Website: https://kidsfoodbasket.org/volunteer/
Literacy Center of West Michigan
Date and Time: Date and time are determined by volunteer opportunity.
Description: 1 in 8 West Michigan adults struggle with low literacy. So, we have an ongoing need for volunteer tutors to work one-on-one with adult learners. You don't need any special skills, just the ability to read and write and the willingness to teach others.
Contact: If interested, please them here.
Website: https://literacycenterwm.org/volunteer
Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan
Date and Time: Date and time are determined by volunteer opportunity.
Description: Together we can make wishes come true. Volunteers have the opportunity to grant wishes, be a translator/interpreter, help out in the office and with events, and help children with reading and writing.
Contact: If interested, please contact them here.
Website: https://wish.org/volunteer
Muskegon Volunteer Opportunities
Boys and Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore
Date and Time: Monday-Friday, time is determined by volunteer opportunity.
Description: Boys and Girls Club of Muskegon Lakeshore would not be successful without volunteers like you. BGCML partners with children, youth, and families in Muskegon County to offer programs to enable and inspire all youth, especially the ones who need us the most.
Contact: If interested, please contact Monica.
Website: https://bgclubmuskegon.com/volunteer
Hospice of Michigan
Date and Time: Ongoing opportunity.
Description: Do you enjoy sewing/knitting/crocheting and want to make a difference? Hospice of Michigan is looking for volunteers to help make various projects for our patients to help increase their quality of life. These items can help a patient rest more comfortably in their bed, provide them with comfort, and give them a safe outlet to keep busy. This is an excellent way to use up spare fabric that you may have, while brightening a patients day!
Contact: If interested, please contact Megan.
Website: https://www.hom.org/get-involved/
United Way of the Lakeshore
Date and Time: Ongoing opportunity.
Description: Join a multitude of enthusiastic supporters devoted to creating social change. Be a part of something bigger than yourself. When we Live United, we put opportunity in the hands of all neighbors along the Lakeshore.
Contact: If interested, please contact Emma.
Website: https://www.unitedwaylakeshore.org/get-involved-0
Holland Volunteer Opportunities
Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity
Date and Time: Date and time are determined by volunteer opportunity.
Description: While trying to change the lack of affordable housing, we need volunteers like you! You have the opportunity to help build a house on a construction site, help assist team members in the office, help organize and restock in the ReStore and more!
Contact: If interested, please contact Travis.
Website: https://www.lakeshorehabitat.org/ways-to-volunteer
ODC Network
Date and Time: Date and time are determined by volunteer opportunity.
Description: The Outdoor Discovery Center wouldn't thrive without volunteers like you. Whether you want to come alone or with a group, we have several different opportunities for you. You can help maintain trails and buildings, give animal care assistance, restore habitats, clean up rivers, and more!
Contact: If interested, please contact them here.
Website: https://outdoordiscovery.org/volunteer/
The Salvation Army - Holland
Date and Time: Ongoing opportunity.
Description: Giving a little bit of your time can change someone's life. If you're looking to make a difference in your community, and in your world, volunteering is one of the most powerful ways to do it. Fill food orders at our pantry, organize school supplies and backpacks, give the supplies and backpacks to children in need, load up a family in need with Christmas gifts or ring a bell during the Holiday Season. These are just a few of the amazing opportunities we have here at The Salvation Army.
Contact: If interested, please contact them here.
Website: https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/holland/volunteer/
Ottawa County Volunteer Opportunities
20 Liters
Date and Time: Date and time are determined by volunteer opportunity.
Description: Volunteers are an integral part of the work of 20 Liters. When you give your time and talent, you're joining hundreds of volunteers in the United States and Rwanda to facilitate access to clean and safe water for those who lack it.
Contact: If interested, please contact them here.
Website: https://20liters.org/get-involved/#volunteer
Hand2Hand
Date and Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, specific dates and times can be found on their website.
Description: In hopes of ending childhood hunger, help pack backpacks with food, so hungry children can also excel in school and in life.
Contact: If interested, please contact them here.
Website: https://h2hkids.org/#getinvolved
Love INC.
Date and Time: Date and time are determined by volunteer opportunity.
Description: When caring volunteers walk alongside their neighbors, healthy relationships grow. That's why volunteers are the heart of our ministry. You can help us with education classes, childcare, and picking up and/or moving furniture.
Contact: If interested, please contact them here.
Remote Volunteer Opportunities
Language Exchange Program - Refugee Outreach Collective
LEP is organized to facilitate relationships through learning. Participants are based in the midwest and Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi, and each take on both the role of teacher and student, as they share their language while learning the other. Over video call and messaging on WhatsApp, participants will provide lessons on how to speak English or Swahili, and they will then learn how to speak the language they do not know. To make this a reality, participants will create lesson plans and content to be shared with their language partner, and partners will share and learn from each other’s content once a week. Through their involvement in the program, participants will gain meaningful experiences teaching English or Swahili as a second language, while learning a new language and culture.
For more information contact Emily from Refugee Outreach Collective: [email protected]
Smithsonian Digital Volunteers - The Transcription Center
Transcribe and review digitized historical collections from around the Smithsonian.
Learn more about the Transcription Center and sign up to begin.
Transcribers - By The People (Library of Congress)
The Library of Congress needs volunteers to help transcribe digitize documents, add keyword tags to assist in future searches, and to review transcriptions by other volunteers for accuracy.
Learn more about the opportunity here.
Audiobook Recorder - Learning Ally
As a volunteer, you can use your voice talent to bring audiobooks to life. Or you can conduct quality assurance playing books back just like students will and checking for anything that would result in a less-than-enjoyable listening experience.
Learn more about the opportunity here.
Virtual Tutor - Oakwood Education Foundation
Oakwood Education Foundation addresses educational inequality by connecting underserved students with impassioned volunteer tutors. Anyone 15 or older can apply to be a tutor, and you can choose subjects that match your area of expertise.
United Way
Visit the Heart of West Michigan United Way site and browse through their Volunteer Opportunity Database to find opportunities that suit your interests!
Outdoor Service Opportunities
Job Feed
9/29/22
Fresh Food Fair Volunteer
for job 7056515
Heartside Gleaning Initiative
Expires: 12/22/22
9/23/22
VIGIL "No One Dies Alone" Hospice Volunteer
for job 7033230
CorsoCare
Expires: 12/26/23
9/23/22
Art Therapy Hospice Volunteer (No Art Therapy Experience or Professional Training Needed)
for job 7031072
CorsoCare
Expires: 12/23/23
9/23/22
Armed Forces Hospice Companion Volunteer
for job 7030924
CorsoCare
Expires: 12/23/23
9/23/22
Pet Therapy Hospice Volunteer
for job 7030627
CorsoCare
Expires: 12/23/23
The information on this page is being provided strictly as a courtesy to our students seeking community engagement opportunities. The following list of opportunities is not coordinated by the Office of Student Life Civic Engagement. If any of these opportunities interest you please contact the community partner directly through the contact person listed.
The views and opinions represented by these organizations are not affiliated with Grand Valley State University. If you find that a position posted through this site is not as advertised, please notify the Office of Student Life Civic Engagement at [email protected].
Visit Handshake for more Volunteer, Internship and Job Opportunities
