South Bay Organizations with Volunteer Opportunities
Whether you are looking to make a financial donation or a place to volunteer, there are many local charities that would love your support! Check out the list of local organizations in and around the South Bay below. The opportunities they have may change depending on their current need, so please contact them directly to get most current information. Have one to add? Email us.
Looking to donate goods to a local organization? Check out our post on Local Charities That Accept In Kind Donations! We are always discussing ways to give back in our What’s Happening in the South Bay Group by Local Anchor, you can join here.
Here’s a list of South Bay Volunteer Opportunities and Organizations to support by Making a Donation
UPDATED September 17, 2020
Please note: It’s important to do your research before investing time and money into a charity. One of the easiest ways to do your homework is to look them up on Guidestar – now a part of Candid – dedicated to providing details about nonprofit organizations. If you sign up for a free account, you can see important information like how funds are being distributed.
Community Support Organizations
Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach
Location: Torrance
Focus Area: Family Services; Youth Development
The Volunteer Center recognizes the value of empathy and service to others, and we have been “at the heart of helping” for more than 50 years. The heart of our mission lies in knowing the most urgent, local needs. We learn these needs by regularly listening to the members of our community. When we discover a critical need is going unmet, we lead the response by assembling a team of caring, talented volunteers to create signature programs, such as Operation Teddy Bear and Food For Kids, offering members of our community the opportunity to contribute to the solution. Learn more about our new focus and how we’re helping youth, families and the community look up, re-connect, empathize with each other, build resilience, express emotions and practice self-care at www.volcenter.org/engaging-hearts-and-minds.
Sandpipers
Location: Hermosa Beach
Focus Area: Philanthropic Support/Services
Since 1931, Sandpipers has been a 100% volunteer organization dedicated to serving the needs of the South Bay community through charitable and philanthropic programs. By partnering with more than 65 social service agencies in the South Bay, we are able to ensure that funds raised get disbursed to those in most critical need through our programs such as Emergency Casework, Back-to-School Shopping Program, Holiday Baskets, College Scholarships, and Community Grants.
Daymaker
Focus Area: Philanthropic Support/Services
Daymaker is here to energize love in our world by facilitating acts of giving and service for employees and their companies. Our present platform enables givers to read about specific under-resourced children in their community and buy them real items from a uniquely tailored wish list. Through this experience, we hope to bring givers closer to those they are serving, closer to those around them, and inspire them to explore the feelings of depth, aliveness, and connection accessible through giving.
Domestic Violence & Family Services Organizations
1736 Family Crisis
www.1736fcc.org
Locations: Los Angeles, Torrance, Wilmington
Focus Area: Family Services; Domestic Violence; Homelessness; Veterans Services
Since 1972, 1736 Family Crisis Center has been responding to the growing needs of victims of domestic violence, runaway and homeless youth, victims of human trafficking, homeless families, homeless and at-risk Veterans, unemployed adults and youth, and other low-income community members in need of assistance. We are dedicated to providing professional, cutting-edge, comprehensive programs that are managed by licensed therapists, attorneys and our experienced staff. Men, women, children and families can access life-saving support 24 hours a day through five shelters, four community service centers, various community-based offices and co-locations and five crisis and suicide hotlines. We are ready to help kids, families, and Veterans so that they can permanently escape the worst possible conditions of poverty, homelessness and violence.
Baby 2 Baby
baby2baby.org
Location: Los Angeles; donation sites throughout the South Bay
Focus Area: Family Services
Baby2Baby provides low-income children ages 0-12 years with diapers, clothing and all the basic necessities that every child deserves. By distributing to non-profit partner organizations including homeless and domestic violence shelters, Head Start programs, foster care programs and children’s hospitals, Baby2Baby will serve more than 180,000 children in Los Angeles this year and tens of thousands more across the country through the Baby2Baby National Network.
Community’s Child
www.communityschild.org
Location: Lomita
Focus Area: Family Services; Domestic Violence; Homelessness
Community’s Child Offers Shelter, Education, and Support Services to homeless and disadvantaged women and children within the South Bay. They are committed to offering women and their infants with healthy alternatives by providing safe living environments, training and education to end poverty, neglect, abuse, addictions and hopelessness.
Good Shepherd Shelter
www.goodshepherdshelter.org
Location: Los Angeles
Focus Area: Family Services; Domestic Violence
Good Shepherd Shelter’s mission is to stop the generational cycle of domestic violence by providing individualized, comprehensive services and shelter to battered women and their children and by raising the level of community awareness through advocacy and education.
Project Angel Food
www.angelfood.org
Location: Los Angeles
Focus Area: Family Services
Project Angel Food cooks and delivers over 600,000 nutritious meals each year, free of charge, to the homes of men, women, and children affected by life-threatening illnesses. Our medically tailored meals and nutritional counseling services help chronically and terminally ill people throughout Los Angeles County who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves. Created in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we expanded our mission in 2004 to help our neighbors who are struggling with the multiple challenges of hunger, isolation and their critical illness. Every week, we deliver to 12,000 meals to 1,400 people in need from Metro, South and East LA, to Pomona, La Mirada and Long Beach, and to the remote town of Antelope Valley. Since 1989, we have served over 12 million meals to more than 20,000 people.
Pregnancy Help Center
www.phctorrance.org
Location: Torrance
Focus Area: Family Services
Pregnancy Help Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) association committed to providing women and men with accurate and up-to-date information so they can make informed decisions about pregnancy and sexual health. We have a small staff, and our client advocates and nurses are all volunteers. Our offices are warm and friendly, and we treat everyone who walks through our door with the same level of attention, caring and compassion, with no pressure or judgment. All our services are free and confidential.
Rainbow Services
rainbowservicesdv.org
Location: San Pedro
Focus Area: Family Services; Domestic Violence
Rainbow Services provides shelter and support to anyone impacted by domestic violence, empowering them to move beyond trauma, towards safety & stability.
Richstone Family Center
www.richstonefamily.org
Location: Hawthorne
Focus Area: Family Services
The Richstone Family Center is dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse, strengthening families, and preventing violence in families, schools & communities. Today, Richstone continues to be one of the most progressive centers for trauma-focused treatment and the prevention of child abuse in Los Angeles County and the first Southern California recipient of a Blue Ribbon Affiliate designation from Parents as Teachers, recognizing Richstone’s commitment to providing quality services to kids and their families from communities in L.A. County’s South Bay and neighboring South L.A. areas.
Single Moms Planet
www.singlemomsplanet.com
Location: Santa Monica
Focus Area: Family Services
Single Moms Planet is dedicated to uplifting under-resourced children, by educating their mothers. Building one strong family at a time. They do this through comprehensive programs of financial aid, family bonding activities, mentorship, family counseling and entrepreneurial training. Single Moms Planet provides support, accountability, and hope.
South Bay Children’s Health Center (SBCHC)
www.sbchc.com
Locations: Lawndale, Redondo Beach, Torrance
Focus Area: Family Services; Therapeutic Services
South Bay Children’s Health Center serves the dental and mental health needs of low-income or at-risk children, teens and young adults; empowering them to live healthy, productive and happy lives.
Toberman
toberman.org
Location: San Pedro
Focus: Family Services
The Toberman Neighborhood Center is a premier social service agency in the Harbor area, serving families, children, youth, and adults. Our mission is a commitment to assisting the Harbor Area communities with life-changing services that encourage, inform, educate, and empower our families to live healthy and purposeful lives. Our goal is to assist individuals and families to become self-sufficient.
Maria’s Closet
www.mariasclosets.org
Location: San Pedro
Focus Area: Empowering Young Women
At Maria’s Closet, we don’t let the cost of Prom weigh young women in our community down. We empower them – after all, it takes a village! We know that no senior wants to miss out on activities and events that they have been waiting for since the first day of freshman year! That’s why Maria’s Closet is empowering young women, one gown at a time!
We provide to those in need: free new or nearly new formal wear, accessories, hair and make-up for Prom in a fun, carefree environment that inspires today’s young women to experience Prom with confidence.
Mental Health & Recovery Organizations
Beacon House
www.thebeaconhouse.org
Location: San Pedro
Focus: Recovery Support/Services
The Beacon House Association of San Pedro is a state certified residential alcoholic/drug recovery facility for men over the age of 18 who are ambulatory, mentally competent, and have a sincere desire to achieve long lasting abstinence from drugs and alcohol.
Cancer Organizations
Cancer Support Community
www.cscrb.org
Location: Redondo Beach
Focus Area: Cancer Support/Services
Cancer Support Community Redondo Beach offers free programs for cancer patients, their families and loved-ones. Our goal is to help as many cancer patients as possible recover from the physical and emotional effects of cancer. Our psychological support and educational programs are designed to address the loss of control, hopelessness and social isolation that cancer patients and their families often experience.
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
www.pancan.org
Location: Manhattan Beach
Focus Area: Cancer Support/Services
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is a charity that funds research, provides patient/caregiver support, conducts community outreach and advocates for increased federal research funding for those affected by the world’s toughest cancer.
Special Needs Organizations
Friendship Foundation
www.friendshipfoundation.com
Location: Redondo Beach
Focus Area: Youth with Special Needs
The Friendship Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides socially integrated programs to empower individuals with developmental disabilities to build friendship, independence, and live purposeful lives as active members of their community.
Mychal’s Learning Place
www.mychals.org
Location: Hawthorne
Focus Area: Youth/Adults with Special Needs
Mychal’s Learning Place believes that children and adults with developmental disabilities deserve to be challenged with opportunities that build self-esteem and independence, creating long-term success for life. In doing so, we encourage each child and adult to develop their individual talents and the skills necessary for them to interact and contribute to society. We believe that no disability should ever hinder the growth, passion, success, or independence of those who are willing to try.
No Limits for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children
www.nolimitsfordeafchildren.org
Location: Culver City
Focus Area: Youth with Special Needs
No Limits provides no-cost services to deaf children, teaching them to confidently speak, dream, and succeed through its national theater program and after-school educational centers in LA, Oxnard, and Las Vegas.
Pediatric Therapy Network
Locations: Long Beach, Torrance
Focus: Youth with Special Needs; Therapeutic Services
Pediatric Therapy Network (PTN) helps children with special needs and medical conditions by providing therapies that increase each child’s abilities so that he or she can live a more fulfilling and independent life. PTN serves children of all abilities, including those with an autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, developmental delays, orthopedic and neurological challenges, and sports-related injuries. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, PTN relies on the support of the community to sustain our year-round therapeutic programs and meet the growing need for our services.
Our Village
Locations: Redondo Beach
Focus: Youth with Special Needs
Our Village is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, federally registered charity based in Redondo Beach, CA. Our mission is to help children, teenagers, and young adults with autism, ADHD, social anxiety and other social skills needs, by providing access to social skills groups that are research-based & offer exceptional quality for families.
Founded in 2015, Our Village’s goals are to provide specialized social, emotional and play support to families, and programming and trainings to schools and the community. We strive to build bridges to connection, empathy, understanding and inclusion for all. And we do so with big fun and a lot of heart!
Ride To Fly
Location: Rancho Palos Verdes
Focus: Youth/Adults with Special Needs
Ride to Fly is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing therapeutic horseback riding and the associated learning experiences to children and adults with challenges in a safe, nurturing environment. We believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all people and wish to share the special gift of horsemanship with those with special needs. Ride to Fly is a PATH International (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International) member operating center that has been serving the South Bay area since 1994.
Switzer Learning Center
Location: Torrance
Focus: Youth with Special Needs
Switzer Learning Center is a nonprofit special education school offering therapeutic services, Autism programs and enrichment classes and extracurricular activities serving students from 3rd grade to 22 years of age who have moderate to severe learning disabilities, emotional issues, attention problems, and behavioral disorders. Our classrooms are limited to only 12 students for every credentialed special education teacher and instructional aide. Our enrollment is approximately 100 students with a maximum enrollment of 120 students. Typically, our students are referred from the home school district when they have been unsuccessful in a traditional public school program.
Animal Organizations
K911ResQ
www.k911resq.com
Location: Torrance
Focus Area: Animals
Every abandoned, abused, neglected, or unhappy animal deserves a good home and love. That is our main driving force as we try to rescue as many of them as possible. K911ResQ focuses particularly on those who have had the worst lives, because we want to show them there’s more than just pain. Someone out there is waiting to love them and give them the home they deserve.
Noah’s Bark
noahs-bark.org
Location: Torrance
Focus Area: Animals
Noah’s Bark is an all-volunteer nonprofit dog rescue based in the South Bay. We rescue the most broken, sick and pitiful dogs from high-kill shelters, the ones who have little to no chance of being adopted by the public. Noah’s Bark Dog Rescue gives these dogs a second chance. We provide our pups medical care and a loving foster home while we find them permanent, happy homes. We are funded solely by community support.
Environment Organizations
Los Angeles Maritime Institute (LAMI)
www.lamitopsail.org
Location: San Pedro
Focus: Environment; Youth Development
The Los Angeles Maritime Institute (LAMI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that uses hands-on experiences at sea to provide an array of social, education and leadership development opportunities to middle school and high school students in San Pedro and Wilmington, and throughout Los Angeles County. Our TopSail Youth Program is offered year-round aboard the Tall Ships SSV Irving Johnson and SSV Exy Johnson, 110-foot traditionally rigged vessels named after sail training pioneers who sailed around the world seven times with young crews. Our purpose-built vessels and their young crews were proclaimed the “Official Tall Ships and Maritime Ambassadors of the City of Los Angeles” at their launch in 2002.
Refugees Organizations
Miry’s List
miryslist.org
Location: Los Angeles
Focus Area: Refugees
Refugee families come to the United States seeking a safe haven from violence and persecution in their home countries. They leave behind family and friends, as well as virtually everything they own. Many Americans, seeing these families in their communities, wonder: What can I do to help? Miry’s List provides a mechanism for people to directly help new arrival refugee families with the things that they need to get started in their new lives – from diapers to beds to cleaning supplies and toiletries.
Safety Organizations
Moms Demand Action
momsdemandaction.org
Location: Search your zip to find the active South Bay Chapter
Focus Area: Public Safety
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. Moms Demand Action campaigns for new and stronger solutions to lax gun laws and loopholes that jeopardize the safety of our families. Moms Demand Action has established a chapter in every state of the country and, along with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Students Demand Action and the Everytown Survivor Network, it is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with more than 5 million supporters and more than 350,000 donors.
Safety Belt Safe U.S.A
www.carseat.org
Location: Altadena, Redondo Beach
Focus Area: Family Support
SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. is the national, non-profit organization dedicated to child passenger safety. Our mission is to help reduce the number of serious and fatal traffic injuries suffered by children by promoting the correct, consistent use of safety seats and safety belts. Founded in 1980, SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. is nationally recognized for program excellence, training, and up-to-date technical materials. We provide consultation to advocates, parents, business leaders, the media, and professionals working in the fields of health care, traffic safety, and education.
Youth Development
P.S. I Love You Foundation
psiloveyoufoundation.org
Location: Redondo Beach
Focus Area: Youth Development
Founded in 1998, the PS I Love You Foundation is dedicated to the development and implementation of effective Social and Emotional Learning and Resilience Programs to benefit at-risk youth from elementary to high school to instill love for self, others and the surrounding world. Our goal is to create positive and personal differences in the lives of at-risk children so they can achieve productive lives, live with healthy habits and maintain peaceful attitudes toward themselves and others. We do this through teaching essential skills that influence the development of compassion, good choices, positive attitudes and confident minds.
Sharefest
sharefestinc.org
Location: San Pedro
Focus Area: Youth Development; Community Support/Services
Sharefest is building strong South Bay communities by fostering volunteerism and preparing youth to lead positive change. Sharefest works in LA’s neglected neighborhoods to empower youth, transform communities, and deliver hope.
Walk with Sally
www.walkwithsally.org
Location: El Segundo
Focus Area: Mentorship; Youth Development
Walk With Sally provides hope through our individualized mentoring and community support services to empower children experiencing trauma through a parent, guardian or sibling’s cancer journey.
Refugee Organizations
iACT
www.iact.ngo
Location: Redondo Beach
Focus Area: Refugees
iACT is an international organization pioneering processes, programs, and education campaigns to improve the humanitarian refugee response around the globe. iACT is about action and empowerment inspired through personal relationships. Teamwork is at the heart of our change model. We collaborate with experts and organizations across different sectors, and, most importantly, the refugee beneficiaries, in order to design and implement education, sports, and human rights solutions at the forefront of humanitarian efforts.
Therapeutic Support/Services
The Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation
jimmymillerfoundation.org
Location: Manhattan Beach
Focus Area: Therapeutic Support/Services
The Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation Ocean Therapy is an adaptive surfing program to assist individuals coping with mental and physical illness in accessing the ocean environment. The purpose of our program is to increase perceived self-efficacy in our participants, through engagement in physical activity in the ocean environment, specifically, the activity of surfing. Ocean Therapy Surf Sessions can be a one-time activity or ideally, an ongoing program where growth and healing can be seen and measured. In the past five years, the JMMF Ocean Therapy program has touched hundreds of children and adults, often with life changing results.
Have one to add? Email us.
You can also find links to three volunteer search databases and a list of local organizations and their volunteer needs on the Volunteer Center website here.
Also be sure to check out these additional community resources:
Local charities that accept in kind donations
Create Acts of Kindness in the New Year with Downloadable Calendars
