East Bay Volunteer Opportunities: Oakland, Berkeley & More
Volunteer Events Berkeley, Volunteer Opportunities Alameda; Animal, Nature, Environment, Food Pantries, Hospital Volunteer Opportunities Oakland, & More
Last updated: October 20. 2025
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Volunteer Opportunities East Bay
When trying to volunteer for organizations, it can be time-consuming as you may have to search all over and then find out places are filled up, require training or are unable to accomodate you (age or otherwise). Some common issues include:
broken links on website
missing volunteer info on landing pages (have to click through 2, 3, 4+ pages to get to info about what kind of volunteers are needed)
posting volunteer info only on newsletters (after signup)
I am more than happy to help out when/where I can, but I need some help which is partly why I am surfacing this info here, for the masses.
Volunteering is a great way to meet people, get some exercise, make friends and build community. There are opportunities available for all interests, schedules, skills and more. Can’t find any below? Contact me and I will help you out.
Popular reads by Eddie’s List:
Volunteer Opportunities Bay Area (Beyond East Bay)
Important Info!
As with all guides, some can become outdated or have different needs, availability throughout the year. Please see organizations for latest info as I cannot possibly update them in real-time, 24/7.
Similarly, based on interest, feedback and support I will update this list with more options, details.
Have recommendations? Is there a mistake? Send me a note below or through the contact link with as much detail, specifics as possible. Contact me here!
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Volunteer Opportunities Food Pantries, East Bay
Soup Kitchens, Warehouses, Berkeley, Alameda
Berkeley Food Pantry (M/T/W/F; 2 hour shifts 10-4:30PM)
Pantry 3hr shifts (stock, organize & assist folks)
Warehouse weekday morning, sift through food
Warehouse delivery (Mon/Wed morning)
Warehouse sweeping, mopping; weekday afternoons
16+ and older; closed toe shoes
3 hour shifts morning, mid-day and & afternoon
Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano
Food distribution
Bay Point, Antioch, San Pablo, Richmond & More
Food sorting opportunities, Fairfield
Western Service Workers Association, Oakland
Food rescue program, largely food sorting
Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa Admin/Dining Room, Martinez
Dining room, kitchen & more
Meals on Wheels, Alameda
Mon: 10AM-2/3PM; food prep (Berkeley)
Tue: 10AM cooking (Oakland)
Wed: 11:30AM (Oakland)
Thur: 11:30AM Berkeley; Oakland 8AM-12PM
City Team, Oakland
Kitchen & meal service, warehouse, mobile food pantries
Environmental Volunteer Opportunities, Nature, East Bay
Alameda, Contra Costa Oakland Environmental Volunteer Opportunities
John Muir Land Trust, Contra Costa & Alameda
San Francisco Bay Keeper Volunteer Opportunities
Based in Oakland, but opportunities beyond?
Save The Bay, Oakland Volunteer Opportunities
Planting, Removing Invasive Species; Themed Activities LGBTQ+, BIPOC
Gardening, Shore Cleanup, Habitat Restoration & More
Volunteer for Outdoor California
Various locations, select weekends, large-scale trail maintenance
Camping, dinner along with 125-150 volunteers
Animal Shelter Volunteer Opportunities Bay Area
Oakland, Alameda Animal Volunteer Opportunities
Cat Town, Oakland
East Bay SPCA (Oakland, Dublin)
Animal care, shelter care & more
Oakland Animal Services
Milo Foundation, Pt Richmond
Animal care, dog walking, cat socialization, and adoption support
Donate Clothes, Toiletries Oakland
East Bay Collective: Feed The Hood, Oakland
winter items: warm scarves, gloves, knit hats (new or clean & gently used), tents, sleeping bags (new or clean & gently used), heavy duty tarps (new)
East Bay Trash Cleanups (Oakland)
Urban Compassion Project: Weekly? Urban Cleanups, Oakland
Usually Saturdays but check calendar/site.
East Bay Regional Parks Volunteer Opportunities
habitat restoration; shoreline clean-up; trail & garden maintenance (weeding, pruning, mulching); bird box prepping, and many more
A lot of opportunities from various orgs. Some listed below.
Lake Merritt Institute (trash cleanups): Tuesdays, Saturdays 10AM
Keep Oakland Beautiful
East Bay Trash Pandas
PickItUp Chinatown, Oakland
2nd Sunday of the month, 11AM-2PM; 40-50 volunteers
Performing Arts Volunteer Opportunities (Oakland, Berkeley)
Ushers, carpentry work, painting, clean up
The Marsh, Berkeley & San Francisco
Ushers, office
Ushers
California Revels, Oakland
Lescher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek
Education Volunteer Opportunities East Bay
Contra Costa Library: Project Second Chance
Virtual or in person; one-on-one; 2x/week for 90 minutes
Concord, Antioch, Brentwood, Hercules, Pleasant Hill, San Pablo
Hospital Volunteer Opportunities East Bay
Coming soon
Volunteer Opportunities For East Bay High School Students
East Bay SPCA (Oakland, Dublin)
16-17 year olds w/ signed parent/guardian waiver
Animal care, shelter care & more
Alameda Food Bank
Milo Foundation, Pt Richmond (animals)
Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter, Alameda
East Bay Volunteer Opportunities (Oakland, Alameda)
SF Bay Area Bench Collective: Adopt a Bench
The Made (Museum of Art & Digital Entertainment), Alameda
Expanding game & book library, maintain consoles, computers & arcade systems, teach kids how to create & code, organiz public events
The Crucible Volunteer Opportunities (maintain our studio spaces, assist instructors with youth classes, run special events, repair bikes and more)
Fairyland Volunteer Opportunities, Oakland
Skills being asked of: Animal Care, Arts and Crafts, Carpentry, Early Education, First Aid, Gardening, Office Work, Painting and Restoration
California Historical Radio Society, Alameda
Newsletters contain current needs.
USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier Museum, Alameda
Korean Community Center of the East Bay (San Leandro)
Tuesdays, 5pm; Sundays, 1pm
Bay Area Girls’ Rock Camp, Oakland
Summers, week-long volunteer opportunities
Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland
Adult (8 hours/month) & teen volunteer opportunities
Various locations, Berkeley etc.
East Bay Library Volunteer Opportunities
The Friends of Alameda Free Library
Used book sales: March, June & October & more
Berkeley Public Library Volunteer
Technology helpers, computer class helpers, knitting instructors & more
Immigration, Legal Volunteer Opportunities East Bay
Centro Legal de la Raza, Oakland
Interpreters
Administrative & Non-Law Student Volunteers/Undergraduate Internships
Volunteer Opportunities UC Berkeley Students
Coming soon.
If you would like to support my efforts with creating and upkeeping free, manually curated guides like this for everyone, you can buy me a coffee below.
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Great work collecitng all these!