'Tis the season for endlessly flowing cocktails, a calendar packed with holiday parties, out-of-control online shopping, and seasonal affective disorder. But nothing cures the winter blues and stress of the gift giving season like giving back to others. It’s easier than ever to find a cause you care about thanks to sites like Chicago Cares, One Good Deed Chicago, VolunteerMatch, and HandsOn Suburban Chicago, but we're highlighting a range of interesting volunteer opportunities across the city to get you started. Even a little bit of your time (or a small donation) can go a long way for a fellow Chicagoan in need.
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Promote children's literacy and spark creativity
It's easy to help out at Open Books, whether you want to just drop off some used tomes, shelve and pack up donations in the West Loop or Pilsen bookstores, or jump into one of their many reading and creative writing programs for students at local schools. Similarly, volunteer-run writing and publishing programs at 826CHI are supported by other creative do-gooders operating the adjacent Secret Agent Supply Co store, which sells espionage-themed gadgets and toys to benefit the organization. Or spend an afternoon sorting and packing books for at-risk children at Bernie's Book Bank.
Volunteer with different organizations each month, then drink beer
Volunteering Untapped Chicago definitely puts the social in social good. Volunteers visit a different nonprofit on the second Saturday of every month, then kick back at a nearby watering hole offering food and drink specials for the volunteer group. Activities through various organizations have included hosting holiday parties for children with disabilities and their families, beautifying homes for the elderly, sorting books for school classrooms, and cleaning up parks and urban gardens in communities across the city.
Help unseasoned chefs grow in the kitchen
Empower kids by teaching them how to whip up amazing meals in the kitchen. As a volunteer team leader at Kitchen Possible's about weekly cooking classes for 9-12 year olds, you can help shape the way kids in low-income communities approach the world. Equip them with real life skills like how to be patient and that it’s ok to ask for help -- lessons that can be applied both in and out of the kitchen.
Similarly, through Kendall College Trust and The Trotter Project, you can support the education and career advancement of youth interested in the culinary or hospitality industries by mentoring a student or volunteering at fundraisers to grow scholarships for those with financial need.
Empower incarcerated women with books
While the women of Orange is the New Black's fictional Litchfield Correctional Facility regularly hit the prison library stacks for new reads, the ones in real prisons can be barren. Volunteers at Chicago Books to Women in Prison make it easier for female inmates nationwide to access better reading material, both educational and entertaining. Help fulfill their requests by donating your old paperbacks (dictionaries are requested most), or giving money, especially for postage.
Provide guidance for low-income community college students
According to One Million Degrees, "65% of Illinois public college students attend community college, but only one in four of them graduate with a degree within three years." That's why the organization's volunteer coaches help guide low-income community college students in their academic, professional, and personal pursuits. Give scholars some pointers at annual "It's Who You Know" speed-networking events or commit to a longer-term relationship by working one-on-one throughout the year as a coach.
Get kids fired up about STEM
If you work in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics profession, you can be a positive influence on young people in Chicago through Project Exploration, which focuses on students of color and girls. Explore different STEM topics through personalized hands-on experiments and illuminating talks with curious students after school, and expose them to exciting education and career paths.
Set kids up for success early on
From family-friendly volunteering activities at Share Our Spare, a nonprofit that collects goods for children in need, to supplying homeless or low-income kids with free packs of essentials for home, school, and play through Cradles to Crayons Chicago to building one-on-one relationships with abused and neglected youth via UCAN, there are many ways to make life better for local kids in need.
Engage with the community through the arts
At the Old Town School of Folk Music and Chicago West Community Music Center, volunteers can promote music education and artistic development in a number of ways -- from assisting with administrative projects to program outreach to lending a hand at concerts and special events to teaching underprivileged kids how to read and play music. At Chicago Urban Art Retreat Center, volunteers can unleash their creativity by helping out with community art program projects, painting murals, giving the women's residence rooms makeovers, entertaining at events, gardening, etc.
Teach English as a second language
Help your neighbors learn English, so they can earn a GED for a better job, learn vital computer skills, and speak with their children's teachers. The Howard Area Community Center needs volunteers to help former inmates find jobs, teach kids how to use computers, and more. At Aquinas Literacy Center, volunteer tutors help teach English literacy classes (knowledge of a second language isn't required) on a weekly basis and other volunteers can help with ongoing program support and one-time special events.
Mentor underprivileged youth
Becoming a “Big” is kind of a huge deal. You're helping shape a kid’s future through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago, which matches volunteers with children in the city who need mentorship the most. Littles bond with their Bigs through on-site one-on-one and group activities, as well as outings in the communities. BUILD Chicago also helps at-risk youth reach their potential by creating positive alternatives to street and gang life and fosters lifelong bonds through an intensive mentoring program.
Fight gun violence in Chicago
Gun reform and gun safety groups are our greatest allies in reforming national and local gun laws. Volunteer with a local organization like the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence or the local chapter of Everytown for Gun Safety to help stop gun violence in Chicago. Help the families who've already been affected by gun violence by supporting local anti-violence and crisis support organizations like Chicago Survivors https://chicagosurvivors.org, Cure Violence (of the award-winning PBS documentary The Interrupters fame), and Strides for Peace.
Help someone in need secure a job
Whether you're sharing your expertise as a volunteer coach helping participants find employment or a brand ambassador spreading the word about Cara Chicago, you'll give people affected by poverty the confidence to get and keep good jobs.
...Or be a stylist for job-seeking men and women
People throughout the city turn to Bridge to Success for help entering or re-entering the workforce with their best shoe forward. You can serve as a stylist and/or personal shopper, helping them build confidence by selecting job-appropriate attire in the Bottomline Resale Boutique's laid-back setting. In addition, volunteer boutique assistants are needed to accept clothing and accessory donations, manage inventory, and build in-store displays.
Make a positive impact on someone else's health
You don't necessarily need health care experience to educate the public about health issues, answer clinic phones and hotlines, or provide comfort to patients with a warm blanket. Many local hospitals, hospice care organizations, and public health nonprofits could use your help -- whether it's distracting the hospital's littlest patients in the playroom or cuddling babies in the NICU, offering companionship to someone in hospice, raising awareness or research funds for a disease through a walk or drive, or advocating for and providing free health care services to underserved communities through an organization like CommunityHealth.
Care for the impoverished
The Night Ministry has a number of outreach services and programs that deal with housing, medical needs, and parenting, all with a “non-judgmental” bent. Volunteers can help by sharing meals with teens at The Crib, an LGBT-friendly environment in Lakeview; job coaching at the Open Door Shelter; handing out “sack suppers” from the Health Outreach Bus; organizing safe-sex or personal-care kits; and throwing parties for teen moms and their kids.
Aid refugees
Welcome newly arriving families and help them build a life in Chicago through RefugeeOne. The organization assists refugees with citizenship, finding homes, learning English, gaining job skills, and much more. Additionally, Chicago- and Austin-based GirlForward matches women mentors with adolescent refugee girls for weekly mentoring and tutoring. To advocate for Chicago’s Muslim community, CAIR Chicago offers a variety of volunteer roles, such as community outreach, tutoring, event planning, etc., as well as forms to report hate crimes and instances of media bias.
Provide tenants' rights information
If you've ever been on the hunt for solid answers to housing questions, like whether it's really OK for your landlord to still be "fixing" the heat after it's been off for most of January, you know how hard it is to find reliable information on the legalities of being a renter. Metropolitan Tenants' Rights hotline is so good at providing it that over half of the people answering the phone are former callers.
Support people with disabilities
KEEN Chicago’s program helps instill confidence in kids with disabilities, working with them in non-competitive, one-to-one fitness programs. Volunteers don't need to be athletic or have prior experience working with individuals with disabilities -- they'll receive helpful coaching tips catered specifically to their athlete’s needs.
At The Chicago Lighthouse, you can lead art classes for seniors and even be a newscaster for the radio station of this social service organization serving the blind, visually impaired, disabled, and veteran communities.
Anixter Center supports children, teens, and adults with disabilities in their efforts to "live, learn, work, and play in their communities." Try out a volunteer role -- whether it's for a specific project or several hours a week -- as a tutor, mock job interviewer, storyteller, musician, or even an adaptive-toy assembler.
Support those with mental illnesses
Give hope to those struggling with mental illness in the greater Chicago area as a volunteer at NAMI Chicago or Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. DBSA needs people to work their informational hotline while at NAMI Chicago, you can be a support group facilitator or share your story about mental illness, whether it’s your own or that of a family member, through their community programs. Or shatter the stigma around mental illness by raising awareness as a Hope for the Day volunteer.
Distribute food
With one in six Cook County residents turning to the Greater Chicago Food Depository each year, the nonprofit food distribution and training center could use your help. Sort, repack, and distribute fresh and non-perishable food for families and individuals, many of whom are children, seniors, and veterans. There are also plenty of community food pantries, soup kitchens, and food drives in need of your assistance.
Deliver meals
Meals on Wheels Chicago relies on volunteers to bring warm, nutritious meals to homebound seniors and people with disabilities, who might otherwise have difficulty preparing healthy food. On top of that, you could be providing companionship to someone who might really need it.
Get your hands dirty
Use your green thumb to give back at one of the city's farmers markets like Green City Market, urban farms like Plant Chicago, and Chicago Park District parks, conservatories, and greenhouses. You can also pitch in at a number of small community garden spaces, or even out at the Chicago Botanic Garden. You'll get opportunities to do everything from tending chickens to garden maintenance and organizing market produce to updating websites and helping with chef demos and educational programs.
Build a better Chicago, literally
It doesn't get any more hands-on than Chicagoland Habitat for Humanity, where volunteers participate at construction sites, work on “A Brush with Kindness” repair projects, and run the Habitat ReStores, which sell used goods, furniture, and more to help fund the charity.
Help seniors stay independent
H.O.M.E.'s services help low-income seniors live on their own for as long as possible by enlisting volunteer support to weatherize homes in the cold months, paint in the summer, and make other repairs throughout the year. And like Meals on Wheels, it’ll likely lead to you making a new, older friend or two.
Fight climate change
Chicago Conservation Corps teamed with the Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and other city partners to recruit and train volunteers to spruce up their neighborhoods and create more sustainable living through environmental service projects. Some are one-time events, while others might be long-term endeavors you can lead in your community.
Put your computer skills to use
FreeGeek Chicago turns old computers and parts into working systems to help economically disadvantaged Chicagoans access the internet and learn programs. Volunteers spend time dismantling and testing donated equipment, which is then either reused in refurbished devices or recycled.
Advocate for women's reproductive rights
Aside from sharing your own story and calling legislators, there's no better way to help protect women's rights to healthcare services than giving money or time to organizations fighting for the cause. Planned Parenthood of Illinois needs help hitting the streets, phones, and mailboxes to raise awareness and funds, as well as escorts for patients at their clinics. And through Midwest Access Coalition, volunteers provide safe transportation, housing, and a non-judgmental ear for low-income women coming to Chicago for reproductive services.
Support sexual assault survivors
Through 24-hour crisis counseling, Resilience (formerly Rape Victim Advocates) volunteers ensure that victims of sexual violence who receive emergency treatment at partner hospitals are never alone. They also lend a hand by collecting clothing donations, running educational programs, and demonstrating in solidarity with the women, men, and children survivors at the annual Standing Silent Witness event in Daley Plaza.
Apna Ghar provides services for immigrant survivors of gender violence and their families. Volunteers can undergo training to work directly with survivors and their children at the shelter while others can help with outreach and education, fundraising, and special events and projects without any training. Family Rescue, Sarah's Inn, and House of the Good Shepherd are also all worthy organizations to support victims of domestic violence.
Aid the homeless
Sarah's Circle provides temporary and permanent housing for homeless women with volunteers needed to cook meals, throw birthday and holiday parties, work the front desk, commit to working with veterans, and much more. They also accept donations of seasonal clothing, trial-sized toiletries, and money to support their goal of buying $75-100 of fresh produce every week.
Other homeless shelters like Cornerstone Community Outreach offer opportunities to make a difference to homeless individuals and families by donating essentials, serving meals, maintaining comfortable living spaces, and planning events or assisting with craft projects and game days to make the stay special for families.
Support the LGBTQ community
Chicago House supports transgender individuals through housing, healthcare, legal services, and career mentorship. Their volunteer opportunities include leading discussion groups, gardening around the city, and even writing marketing content.
The Center on Halsted reaches the LGBTQ community by running special events, serving meals to at-risk youth and seniors, answering calls on the Anti-Violence or Behavioral Health Resource Lines, spreading awareness about HIV prevention and treatment, and providing legal services to those in need.
Howard Brown Health Center, which provides healthcare services to the LGBTQ community, needs event volunteers and community board members, and its Brown Elephant Resale Shops accept donations of clothing, accessories, books, furniture, and more to sell for the benefit of the organization.
Show rescue animals some love
If you need a little pet therapy, PAWS Chicago, Chicago Canine Rescue, and One Tail at a Time provide it in spades. It might not be an option for you to foster a friendly furball, but even an hour of your time can help the rescue shelters and adoption centers fulfill their mission of finding these lovable dogs and cats a permanent, equally loving home. You can volunteer on a weekly basis to walk or bathe the animals, or help out at an adoption event. PAWS Chicago has locations throughout the city, making it easy to get involved at a spot convenient for you.
Help single moms by watching their kids
The Well of Mercy is a transitional-living program that relies on volunteers to help single, pregnant women in need. In addition to mentoring and fundraising opportunities, program is looking for female volunteers to be reliable, consistent "baby cuddlers" to provide on-site childcare while the moms participate in educational and career courses.
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