Tennessee is nicknamed the Volunteer State, so it’s only fitting for locals to be interested in finding ways to help our neighbors. Volunteering not only improves the community, but it can also be a great way to make friends and get to know Music City better. However, it’s not always easy to know what volunteer opportunities are available, and how to help. So here’s a list of the best ways to find volunteer opportunities in Nashville.
🫶 Best Websites for Volunteer Opportunities
- Hands on Nashville. This is a comprehensive event calendar of volunteer opportunities. You can search for available dates and times, ages, activity types, and issues.
- City Cast Nashville’s events. I include at least one volunteer activity every day.
BELL Garden accepts volunteers of all ages. (Margaret Kingsbury / City Cast Nashville)
👋 Find and Follow Favorite Nonprofit Organizations
Everyone has different talents, abilities, and interests, and finding a nonprofit organization that matches your interests and following it on social media or signing up for its newsletter is a great way to learn about volunteer opportunities for that specific organization. Here are some excellent local nonprofits that have frequent volunteer opportunities.
- Animal lovers should check out volunteering at the Nashville Humane Association.
- Have a favorite local park? Search ‘Friends of PARK NAME’ to find out how to volunteer with the park, like Friends of Warner Parks, Friends of Shelby Park & Bottoms, and Friends of Radnor Lake.
- The Store is a free grocery store that helps fight food insecurity, and needs constant volunteers to help make it happen.
- Mother to Mother provides essentials to local mothers, and is always in need of warehouse help.
- Community gardens frequently need volunteers, like BELL Garden, Nashville Launch Pad, and The Nashville Food Project.
- Trinity Community Commons helps build community through events and shared meals in East Nashville.
- Second Harvest Food Bank has multiple locations looking for volunteers.
- Book’em accepts volunteers for multiple initiatives in their efforts to bring a love of reading to Nashville’s kids. East Nashville Hope Exchange has a similar mission.
🚮 Follow What’s Happening in Your Community
- Councilmembers often post volunteer opportunities in their newsletters or social media pages. Find your councilmember here.
- Follow local community Facebook and Instagram pages.
- Look at bulletin boards at your library branch.
- And you can always buy a grabber and pick up litter in your neighborhood.
