Volunteering and Community Service in Pennsylvania
Do you want to volunteer in Pennsylvania?
There are many ways you can learn about volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania.
Please note: We are linking to several external sites. The Commonwealth neither supports nor endorses the information, advertisements, or products found on external sites.
Two quick ways to find organizations seeking volunteers are:
This is one of the largest databases of volunteer opportunities in the country and is a great start for your search. But it isn't the only place to look. For more online registries of volunteer opportunities, see the list at
http://pointsoflight.org/centers/directory.cfm?State=PA.
Second, see if there is a Volunteer Center in your area:
http://www.pointsoflight.org/centers/directory.cfm?State=PA and contact them directly for organizations in your community seeking volunteers. Volunteer Centers are clearinghouses of information linking people who want to volunteer with organizations needing their help.
If you live in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, you can also contact the affiliates of the "City Cares" organization. These groups offer one-day and short-term volunteer assignments through a calendar of service opportunities:
There are literally thousands of volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania and not all are registered with these databases. Don't settle for less than what you really want to do! Use the Web and the Yellow Pages® to search for the types of organizations and causes that interest you. Then call them to ask if they can use your help in some way.
Resources in the Pennsylvania Volunteerism Community
Pennsylvania is a very active state, with a variety of organizations focused on encouraging and supporting volunteering and the people who manage such citizen efforts. Watch for this section of the PennSERVE Web site to grow in 2004, as we collect and post as much information as we can about Pennsylvania resources. For now, here are some of the key players in the field:
Please note: The Commonwealth neither supports nor endorses the information, advertisements, or products found on external sites.
Volunteer Match (First, enter your zip code OR OTHER GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION)
This is one of the largest databases of volunteer opportunities in the country and is a great start for your search.
Pennsylvania Office of the Corporation for National Service
Mary Strasser
The Curtis Center
601 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Phone: 215/597-2806
Fax: 215/597-2807
e-mail:
PA@cns.gov
2011 Calendar of Service-Related Events
Special events, "Days of Service," training workshops, and conferences of interest to the field.
January 17, 2011
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
April 10-16, 2011
National Volunteer Week
April 15-17, 2011
National Global Youth Service Day
Ongoing Workshops and Training
Institute for Volunteerism - Pittsburgh, PA
Offer volunteer management seminars at the CCAC, North Campus. In cooperation with The American Red Cross, Good Neighbors and Volunteer Administrators of SW PA. Contact: Sheila Mozer, 8701 Perry Highway, Pittsburgh PA 15237, 412-369-3708
Volunteer Center of the Greater Lehigh Valley - Bethlehem, PA
A six week series -- each week focuses on a different process - planning, organizing, staffing, leading and directing. Contact: Jane Trotter, Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley, 2121 City Line Rd., Bethlehem PA 18017-2168, 610-807-0336, (FAX) 610-807-0361
Please contact PennSERVE with information you'd like to post about any volunteer-related event in your community open to the public.
Ongoing Initiatives
PennSERVE: The Governor's Office of Citizen Service Receives Learn and Serve America Grant (More information . . . )
PennSERVE: The Governor’s Office of Citizen Service is the recipient of funding for a two-year Learn and Serve America Grant to increase awareness and preparedness related to homeland security efforts.
“Encouraging students to become active in Homeland Security efforts today builds safer Pennsylvania communities tomorrow,” Schmerin said. “Our students are building resources that prepare them to be better citizens and prepare Pennsylvania for any future event.”
“PennSERVE will utilize the service-learning approach to education that links community service to academic achievement as a means of increasing students’ awareness of potential dangers and of preparing students, communities, and schools for any emergency,” said Karen Kaskey, PennSERVE executive director. “This will help students understand and identify their greater role in the community,” she said.
PennSERVE: The Governor’s Office of Citizen Service is pleased to unveil a new statewide community service initiative, an AmeriCorps Education Awards Program funded through the Corporation for National and Community Service. In collaboration with Pennsylvania Campus Compact (PACC), and the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND), PennSERVE will engage 250 Pennsylvania college students in service as AmeriCorps members. These young people will be recruited and located at institutions of higher learning, both 4-year and 2-year, across the length and breadth of our Commonwealth, so as to engage students and volunteers at a variety of campuses, and in a variety of college towns and urban areas, in a collaborative effort to address the pressing issues facing their communities.
