Volunteering can be fun, rewarding

Compiled by Nicola Pau

In a big city like San Francisco, there are numerous opportunities for young and old to volunteer their time – whether it is something serious or for the young at heart. There are even a few that can be fun.
Check out these organizations to see if they have what you are looking for:

Aquarium of the Bay
The Embarcadero and Beach Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
(888) 732-3483
www.aquariumofthebay.org

If you are interested in teaching others about the amazing creatures that live in the ocean, then this is the perfect place to volunteer. In order to be considered for work at Aquarium of the Bay, volunteers must be at least 18 years old and available to commit to at least six months of work. All volunteers are required to attend an orientation and training session specific to the role picked.

Back on Track
1399 McAllister St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 346-9316
www.backontracksf.org

Back on Track is dedicated to building bridges of opportunity for K-12 students. As a community-based program, Back on Track has served more than 2,000 youngsters from diverse multicultural populations throughout San Francisco. Volunteer tutors come from all over the Bay Area, helping to strengthen the ability to provide a quality academic program. Back on Track’s tutors find satisfaction in observing academic process as well as empowering students to become lifelong learners. If you are one who wants to make a positive difference in the lives of children and youngsters, sign up to be a tutor today.

CityTeam Ministries
164 Sixth St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 861-8688
www.cityteam.org

CityTeam Ministries is a nonprofit organization that mainly helps those who are homeless and poor throughout San Francisco. Caring staffs and volunteers provide hot meals, safe shelter, shower, shoes and clean clothing to the city’s homeless population while delivering a message to those served — we can all find hope and peace through Christ.

Friends of the San Francisco Public Library
391 Grove St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 626-7500
www.friendssfpl.org

The mission of Friends of the San Francisco Public Library is to build, steward and support a free library system in the city. It is committed to raising the standard of excellence of local libraries by funding programs. One of the ways to get involved with Friends of the San Francisco Public Library include recruiting others. Every week, more than 150 dedicated individuals volunteer for Friends.
Currently Friends is offering different kinds of volunteer opportunities. It has opened its “doors” to Bay Area students, and to those wanting to work in the organization’s donation center by helping out to sort books from Monday to Saturday.

A Home Away From Homelessness
Fort Mason, Building 9
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 561-5533
www.homeaway.org

This nonprofit organization supports the needs of homeless and previously homeless children and families in San Francisco and Marin. It is a “home” that provides physical, emotional and spiritual break for children who are living in an unhealthy situation. At Home Away, the philosophy is that every child deserves a better life by supporting and respecting them on their strengths, creativeness and abilities.
There are five different houses/programs for volunteers to pick: School House, Beach House, Mentor Program, Youth Leaders and Educational Advocacy. A “home” operates with the help of almost 100 volunteers and many of them say that it is the best thing they do in a week. If you want to volunteer and make a difference in a child’s life, you can download the request form from the organization’s Web site.

Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco
55 Hawthorne St., suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 445-KIDS (5437)
www.kidsclub.org

Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco provides a wide range of programs that inspire young people to realize their full potential and be creative, caring and responsible individuals. Its award-winning programs help participants build strong character and skills that will last a lifetime. The five core programs are The Arts; Education and Career Development; Health and Life Skills; Sports; Fitness and Recreation; and Character and Leadership Development.

The Clubs always need tutors, homework helpers, game room attendants and sports enthusiasts. In addition, it also looks for volunteers with special talents in the areas of fine arts, dance, music, crafts and computer technology.

California Pacific Medical Center
2015 Steiner St. (at Pine)
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 600-4400
wwww.cpmc.org

California Pacific Medical Center is a private, nonprofit medical facility that provides a wide variety of services, such as acute, post-acute, outpatient hospital care, home care and health education. The mission of the center is to serve the community by providing high quality health care in a respectful environment.

There are countless reasons to volunteer in the health services field. Not only patients and families are benefited from sympathetic volunteer services; volunteers also receive much in return. For instance, you can enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done, can feel connected to the people you serve and more importantly, you can explore career choices within the health care profession.

The College Bound Foundation
417 Montgomery St.,   10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 705-5786
www.college-bound.org

The College Bound Foundation stays with children from first or second grade and works with them all the way through high school graduation. The goal of the foundation is to help children succeed in school and eventually attend college. A year commitment is required to volunteer and participants must meet once a week for about two hours with students.

As a “coach,” you would help students with homework, read books to them, as well as do fun activities like eating pizza and playing basketball games together. This program is ideal for busy people; meeting times are flexible and can be scheduled for weekends and evenings. The foundation organizes several activities each year, such as a camp trip, swim party, ice-skating and an opportunity for coaches to share their experience.