At Seattle’s Child, we believe in community and in the importance of all of us working together to improves the lives of the kids and families in our neighborhoods and cities. That’s why we’ve partnered with national nonprofit Doing Good Together, an organization committed to making volunteering and service, along with daily kindness, easy and accessible for every family. Check out the volunteer opportunities compiled by the organization below and make “giving back” a natural part of life’s early lessons.
White Center Heights Park / King County Parks
Date/Time: Saturday, May 9, 9 a.m.-noon.
Location: White Center Heights Park. You will receive the exact address once you sign up.
Ages: Families with children are welcome to participate. If you are under 18 years old and attending without a parent or guardian, then you must bring a completed Youth Waiver to the event.
Time Commitment: Three hours.
Volunteer opportunities focus on helping our parks become healthy and beautiful places for all to enjoy. Join us in restoring the health of White Center Heights Park. White Center Heights Park is a small residential park with a lot to offer: community garden, picnic shelter, pond with suspension bridge, Pacific Islander-style roasting pit, bat houses, and a lot of wildlife. We provide all tools and instruction for these fun and inclusive events. No experience is needed.
Contact: [email protected], 206.477.6101. Registration is available online.
Homeward Pet Foster Homes Needed / Homeward Pet Adoption Center
Date/Time: Ongoing.
Location: 13132 NE 177th Place, Woodinville.
Ages: Families are welcome to apply to foster.
Time Commitment: The time varies, but usually it is between two to four weeks.
Animals are placed in foster care for a variety of reasons, but the goal is to meet their behavioral, social, and physical needs. Some may be too young to be adopted, have an illness or injury, and need to recover before they can be adopted, or they may need to be socialized and learn to live in a family environment. All necessary animal care supplies, veterinary care, online training, and 24-hour support are provided!
To become a foster care volunteer:
- You must be allowed to have animals in your home.
- Be able to transport the foster animal(s) to and from the shelter for periodic health exams, including vaccinations and spaying or neutering.
- Children can also help provide love and care for the foster animal, but adults are responsible for all aspects of foster care.
- If you are physically able to regularly care for and monitor the needs and health of an animal you can be a foster care volunteer. You will also need to keep the foster animal’s environment clean and disinfected.
- You will need to frequently monitor the animals in your care, and the commitment depends on the needs of the unique animal.
More information can be found here: Homeward Pet Foster Care FAQs.
Contact: If you’re interested in becoming a Homeward Pet volunteer foster family, contact [email protected].
Make Cards for Meals on Wheels Recipients /Sound Generations
Date/Time: Ongoing.
Location: Please mail cards to our main downtown office: Sound Generations Meals On Wheels, 2208 2nd Ave., Ste 100, Seattle, WA 98121
Ages: Everyone can participate.
Time Commitment: Varies.
A handmade card from a caring person can really brighten an older adult’s day. Whether you’re looking for something to do on a rainy day or planning a family activity, all you need is your creativity, some paper, and any other art supplies you have. Remember to make your cards general enough, so they will suit any recipient. You can write messages like, “Have a good day,” or “Happy spring or fall,” and/or include an inspirational quote or silly joke. You could also share something about yourself, like where you are from. Please, no glitter or “get well” messages. Do not include any personal information on your cards. Envelopes are not necessary. If you include envelopes, please do not seal them. Learn more here.
Contact: mealsonwheels@
Strander Row- Riverton Restoration / Green Tukwila Partnership
Date/Time: Wednesday, May 13, 9:30 a.m.-noon.
Location: We will meet in Bicentennial Park and walk to the site, which is located just south of the park, under the bridge, and follow the Green River Trail South.
Ages: Families with children are welcome to participate.
Time Commitment: Two and a half hours.
Spring is here and the Green River is waking up! Join us in May as we roll up our sleeves to remove invasive plants and give native trees and shrubs room to thrive. This is a great way to learn, move your body, and make an immediate impact. Dress for the weather, wear closed-toe shoes, and cover your legs and arms; blackberries can be very scratchy. Bring a full water bottle and, if you have them, tough gardening gloves. This site does not have restrooms; we can use the restrooms at REI, but it requires a car.
Contact: Olena Perry, [email protected]. Green Tukwila phone number, 206.806.1596. Registration is available online.
Miles for Smiles Activity Challenge 2026 / Birthday Dreams
Date/Time: The Miles for Smiles Activity Challenge will run from May 15 to 29.
Location: Your own location.
Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate!
Join us for the Miles for Smiles Activity Challenge! Your family can run, walk, ride, hike, swim, or roll at your own pace and in your own way to benefit Birthday Dreams. You have two weeks to complete your activity, aiming for at least 3 miles. All fitness counts: biking, hiking, swimming, walking, running. So gather your friends, form a team, set a goal, and start getting donations! With your help, we can raise funds to make sure homeless children throughout the Puget Sound are celebrated on their birthdays! Learn more here.
Birthday Dreams is also hosting a Sweet Dreams Cake Competition on Sunday, May 3, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. There are categories for professional, amateur and youth bakers. Friends and family are welcome to attend.
Contact: events@
Duwamish Hill Preserve – Spring Clean Up / Green Tukwila Partnership
Date/Time: Saturday, May 16, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Location: 3800 S 115th St, Tukwila. We will meet in the field by the road.
Ages: Families with children are welcome to participate.
Time Commitment: Three hours.
Help us wrap up the spring restoration season! Join Green Tukwila for our final spring work party at Duwamish Hill Preserve. Together we’ll finish the season strong—removing any remaining invasive blackberry, spreading mulch, and tending to young native plants to prepare them for summer. This is a great way to celebrate your impact, enjoy the blooming preserve, and connect with others who care about local nature. All clean up supplies will be provided—just bring your energy and love for the outdoors! Bring a full water bottle, and wear clothes that can get dirty, gloves if available, and closed-toe shoes.
Contact: Olena Perry, [email protected]. Green Tukwila phone number, 206.806.1596. Registration is available online.
Got love to share? Foster a dog! … or puppies! / Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC)
Date/Time: Flexible.
Location: Foster an animal in your home and check in with RASKC, 21615 64th Ave S, Kent.
Ages: Children may participate in caring for animals, though an adult in the household must be the official volunteer.
Time Commitment: Very flexible. You can wait until the time is right for you to foster.
Got love to share? Consider becoming a foster volunteer! As a foster volunteer, you would make a short-term commitment to nurture one or more animals from the shelter in your home on a temporary basis. Some dogs have lingered in the shelter too long and need some respite. Providing time in your home helps them sleep deeply and feel their best selves again. RASKC also offers cats, kittens, and rabbits for foster care too.
Foster volunteers are given online training, great support, and everything necessary– free pet food, free medical care for the animal, and a free kennel. When the pet is ready to be adopted, you may choose to: a) Select who the animal will be adopted to within our Adopters Welcome guidelines, b) Bring the animal back to the shelter, or c) Adopt the animal yourself. You can decide when the time is right for you to foster– on an ongoing basis or just every once in a while. Community service might be available for school. Usually, 1.5 hours is credited for each day an animal is cared for in your home.
Contact: Sarah Luthens, RASKC.Volunteers@kingcounty.
- Complete a RASKC volunteer application if you are an adult. One application per household.
- Submit your completed liability release form if you are an adult.
Run to End Weekend Hunger / Backpack Brigade
Date/Time: Saturday, May 30:
- Race Day packet pickup/registration starts at 8 a.m.
- Kids run (7 and under) starts at 8:45 a.m.
- 5K walk/run starts at 9 a.m.
Location: Seward Park, 5900 Lake Washington Blvd S, Seattle.
Ages: Everyone can participate.
Time Commitment: Varies.
Join us at the Run to End Weekend Hunger 5K to support Backpack Brigade, the largest weekend hunger relief organization for schoolchildren in Washington state. Backpack Brigade provides food for children in our communities who rely on their schools for breakfast and lunch and often have little to no food on the weekends. Your families’ participation helps further Backpack Brigade’s mission to end weekend hunger for more than 5,000 students a week in 102 schools (and counting) in King County.
People of all ages and abilities are welcome to run, jog, walk, or stroll to help END weekend hunger! Come early and stay late to stretch, enjoy coffee and breakfast items from local food trucks, and more. Every step you take supports a brighter future for homeless and food insecure kids. Participants are encouraged to wear costumes! We’re inviting all participants to don their most imaginative costumes. Whether you’re a superhero duo, a dynamic Disney pair, or a family who loves to sparkle, we want to see your best costume ideas come to life. When the race is over, enjoy coffee, snacks, vendors, and more! Learn more here.
Contact: [email protected]. Registration is available online.
Senior Citizens Card Writing Volunteers / Senior Care First Foundation (SCF)
- Date/Time: This is an ongoing project.
- Location: Once you fill out the volunteer form we will send you instructions for the card sizes we accept as well as how to deliver them to seniors. A confirmation email will be sent within 4-5 business days.
- Ages: Everyone can help.
- Time Commitment: Varies.
Senior Care First strives to obliterate senior citizen loneliness in senior homes and memory care clinics. It is integral that seniors are actively engaging with the community. One of the ways volunteers can help facilitate this interaction with seniors is by writing cards or making crafts for them. Senior Care First writes handmade cards/crafts and delivers them directly to senior citizens throughout the United States. Writing cards for seniors is not only to lighten up the days of seniors but also to let them know there is a support system outside of their homes filled with loving young members of their community. There is no specific way to make the cards since you, the volunteer, have creative liberty. However, we encourage volunteers to use bright colors and inspiring messages to share love for the seniors. We have heard several positive messages from senior homes after receiving cards from SCF. From writing general motivational and inspiring cards to holiday related cards, we give them all. Click here for card-making guidelines and to learn more.
Contact: seniorcarefirstfoundation@
You’ve Got the Power to Fight Hunger /AmpleHarvest.org
Date/Time: Ongoing.
Location: Your own garden or find a community garden near you.
Ages: All ages can participate.
Time Commitment: Varies.
Got a garden? Then you’ve got the power to fight hunger. With food banks facing supply disruptions and economic uncertainty looming, families across America are bracing for harder times. One in six children already lives in a food-insecure home, and that number could rise. But if you’ve got a garden, you’ve got a solution growing right in your backyard. Every season, billions of pounds of fresh fruits and veggies go to waste in home and community gardens. Meanwhile, food pantries—especially in underserved communities—struggle to offer fresh, nutritious food. That’s where you come in.
By planting a little more than you need or donating the surplus from your already bountiful harvest; you can help bridge the gap between abundance and need. Even a few tomatoes, a zucchini explosion, or a basket of greens can make a big difference in someone’s life.
This isn’t just about feeding people. It’s about fighting obesity, malnutrition, and hunger at the same time. It’s about building a stronger, healthier community; one garden at a time.
You can take action today: AmpleHarvest.org helps connect gardeners with one of over 8,300 local food pantries across 5,600 communities in all 50 states, even in Native American reservations, so your harvest gets to those who need it most. It’s easy. It’s local. And it works.
- Ready to grow good? Check out the Bonnie Plants “Grow More Feed More” initiative. Bonnie Plants will donate 5% of online sales to AmpleHarvest.org.
- Need supplies? Home Depot’s “Donate Your Harvest” initiative supports AmpleHarvest.org and encourages all of its gardening customers to nourish their community.
- Care to enlist your local government? AmpleHarvest.org/
government can help your mayor or county officials more rapidly expand AmpleHarvest.org to more food pantries in your community at zero cost.
Contact: Find your local pantry or learn more at www.AmpleHarvest.org.
Hygiene Kits and/or Sweet Treats for Recovery Café
Date/Time: Ongoing need.
Location: You can drop off items at either Cafe location (4202 6th Ave S or 2022 Boren Ave) or mail items to 2022 Boren Avenue.
Ages: Everyone can help assemble hygiene kits and create cards.
Time Commitment: Varies.
Families are welcome to help with one or both of the following projects:
Hygiene Kits:
Recovery Café seeks to provide basic hygiene resources for our community members. Your family can help by making hygiene kits!
Quart or gallon-sized Ziploc bags tend to work best. Please include the following hygiene items in every kit. Travel-size items are preferred.
- Toothbrush.
- Toothpaste.
- Package of tissues.
- Cleaning agent (bar soap, liquid body wash, disposable washcloth).
- And at least one other item.
The last item (or two) can be something like hand sanitizer, dental floss, ear plugs, shampoo, lotion, deodorant, chapstick, a disposable razor, or sunscreen (which is especially useful in the summer months). We ask that hygiene supplies that would only be useful for certain community members, like hair ties or menstrual products, be kept separate from the kits, but folks are welcome to donate those if desired!
Sweet Treats
Everyone loves homemade treats! Volunteers are invited to bake and donate their favorite cookies, cupcakes, brownies, or other goodies to share with the Cafe community.
We ask that any sweet treat containing nuts be clearly marked. Cookies are always a win in our community, but other baked goods like cupcakes, muffins, brownies, etc. are also greatly appreciated! Items that are pre-portioned and do not need to be cut are easiest for us to serve, but donations like cakes and pies would also be warmly embraced. Batches of at least 30-45 treats are most desirable, so that we can offer at least one to any Member present at the time. They can either be dropped off to us in individual bags/wrapping or in a container–if you would like the container to be returned to you, please be in contact with Anderson ([email protected])
Contact: Anderson Witiak, [email protected].
Go Camo Care Package Collection / Soldier’s Angels
Date/Time: Soldiers’ Angels now sends care packages all year, which means you can participate in hosting or supporting Go Camo at any time!
Location: If you’re collecting items or purchasing items locally, once you have completed the Intent to Donate Form, you can ship all of your items to our headquarters in San Antonio.
Ship your collected items to: Soldiers’ Angels Go Camo, 1355 Central Pkwy S #700, San Antonio, Texas 78232
Ages: Everyone can participate.
Time Commitment: Varies.
The mission of Soldiers’ Angels is to provide aid, comfort, and resources to the military, veterans, and their families. The Go Camo Care Package Collection helps Soldiers’ Angels collect the top-requested care package items throughout the year as well as financial donations to help offset the cost of shipping the care packages! Soldiers’ Angels sends thousands of care packages to deployed individuals every year. Your family can help by collecting and donating items for care packages including hygiene and personal care items, snack care items, and downtime items. Click here and scroll down for the complete list of items needed.
Contact: [email protected].
Check Out Our Featured Project Of The Month!
EXPLORE our growing list of at-home projects you can do whenever you’re ready. Each project includes conversation starters, book ideas, and more! Follow along on social media as other families tackle this month’s project and share their stories! Simply join our Facebook group or find us on Instagram (@doinggoodtogether and #sharekindness).
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Nurture big-hearted habits with DGT! New members get 50% off a DGT Family subscription using the KIND50 promo code. Enjoy access to our exclusive library of easy, impactful kindness tools for your family. Offer ends May 10.
This list was compiled by Doing Good Together™ and reposted with permission. When calling or emailing to volunteer for any of the opportunities listed above, please let the coordinator know you found it through this listing. You are encouraged to ask any questions you may have of the sponsoring organization before committing to a project.
Disclaimer: This list is provided as a service to families. Inclusion of organizations in this listing does not imply affiliation, endorsement, or quality assurance on the part of Doing Good Together™. Doing Good Together™ bears no responsibility whatsoever for the activities and actions of the listed organizations. © 2025 Doing Good Together™
