Day of Caring brings together business leaders, campaign coordinators, certified nonprofit partners and volunteer across the region to work on needed service projects. Working together and fostering team-building within our community exemplifies our LIVE UNITED spirit.

Please click on the organization name to read the project details.

Volunteer Project sponsorship deadline is July 23.
Sponsors must select projects by July 31.

ACF Upcountry Community Center

Help create our Community Living Space
The Upcountry Community Center is evolving our back room into our Community Living Room. We will be moving a bookshelf, adding cabinets and counters, installing more lighting, electrical outlets, and a white board. This change will give our community a more comfortable place to sit with their laptops, work on homework, read a book, or host workshops and classes.

Location: Amador County (Pine Grove)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 15

ALS Association Greater Sacramento Chapter – Not Available – Selected by Women in Philanthropy & Retiree Giving Club

Helps us get what we need, when we need it!
Our project is to clean and organize our durable medical loan closet. You have all been there, you need an item and you need it now! Helping us clean and organize our closet will mean more efficient services for persons with ALS. So we will clean, organize, label, and maybe learn something new!

Location: Sacramento County (Arden Arcade)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 15

Atkinson Family Services

Growing confidence one plant at a time!
Come help us complete our community garden! Help us make a difference in the lives of foster youth by building and preparing raised-planter beds. These beds will be used to teach our children about healthy eating and sustainability. We will be creating a place where kids can also experience the Farm to Fork movement by growing their own food and then preparing it in a meal to enjoy. So put on your work gloves and join us for a day in the garden!

Location: Sacramento County (Carmichael)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 25

Boys & Girls Club El Dorado County Western Slope – Not Available – Selected by California Health & Wellness

2nd Annual United We Win!
United Way Volunteers and the staff of the Boys & Girls Club will come together the afternoon of September 11th for a truly dynamic and exciting day for the kids of the Club! The Club will be transformed into a series of challenge areas and the kids will broken down into teams. Each team will have a bandana of their own color. The teams will compete in a series of challenges, both physical and mental and compete for points. The team with the most points will win the grand prize. Teamwork, good sportsmanship and working towards a common goal will all be the lessons learned this exciting day. Come join us as we transform our Club into the world headquarters for the second annual “United we WIN” obstacle, trivia and overall awesome time out.

Location: El Dorado County (Placerville)
Time: 2:30 – 6:30
Volunteers Needed: 20

Crocker Art Museum – Not Available – Selected by Safelite Auto Glass

Fun Family Festival Fabrication!
Help us as we prepare for our next big Family festival and other art events at the Crocker! Volunteers will be preparing the supplies for the art activities for children and young at heart. Get ready to cut ribbon, paper, cardboard or other supplies for creating and take yourself back to your school days!

Location: Sacramento County (Downtown Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 15

Developmental Disabilities Service Organization (DDSO)

Stop, Brush & Roll!
Help us paint our St. Marks Campus from bleak to sleek! We need volunteers to assist in revamping our old and shabby exterior buildings. Our St. Marks Campus is home to four day programs for adults with developmental disabilities, a few gardens, and many amazing murals and mosaics created by our clients. For years, we have been working on painting our entire campus, and we need your help completing our goal! At DDSO, we love and value our volunteers. To us, you ain’t just paint.

Location: Sacramento County (Carmichael)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 30

Elk Grove Food Bank Services

All “SORTS” of fun! With as”SORT”ed clothing! What “SORT” of crew are you?
In addition to food, the EGFBS also provides clean, new or gently used clothing through donations. These clothes make it possible for our clients and their children to go to school, job interviews or to just feel good about themselves. At our indoor/outdoor clothes sorting facility, we will have music, fun and laughter while sorting, inspecting & packing clothing for men, women and children to be transported to our main distribution site.

Location: Sacramento County (Elk Grove)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 25

FosterHope Sacramento – Not Available – Selected by Sacramento Kings

Building our Garden of Hope
FosterHope Sacramento would like to develop a family garden program to help build family connections and unity as well as to learn about an economical way to grow and eat healthy foods. The program will encourage children and their families to participate in learning how to grow their own food, tend to a garden as well as harvesting and preparing delicious meals through our in house cooking programs. The project is aimed for both teens, who will develop a sustainable way to grow and cook their own healthy foods, as well as families who would like to participate in the program. The program will be open to foster families, biological families, kinship families, teens and young adults.

Location: Sacramento County (North Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 25

Friends of East Sacramento

Groom the Garden
Help clean and groom McKinley Park Rose Garden. We’ll weed, rake, dead-head, pick-up litter and spread mulch. Join us and be a part of taking care of this Sacramento area treasure!

Location: Sacramento County (McKinley Park)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 35

Girl Scouts Heart of Central California

Refurbish our Urban Refuge to Keep Girls Scouts Safe
We need volunteers to help us with a fence replacement. We have a beloved Girl Scouts “cabin” in an urban Woodland neighborhood that is utilized by many troops every month. However, we need a complete and solid fence around the entire property to keep our girls and facility safe, and our current fence is damaged and no longer doing the job. We are seeking volunteers to remove the old fence boards, replace them, and stain the new fence once the boards are in place. This project will involve the use of hand tools, taking measurements, and painting with foam rollers. No previous carpentry or painting knowledge is required. We teach girls construction skills every summer at our resident camp, and we are happy to teach you as well! 

Location: Yolo County (Woodland)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 35

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento

Build with Habitat for Humanity and Revitalize a Neighborhood!
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento will be celebrating its 30th Anniversary as a Habitat for Humanity Affiliate. In celebration of this milestone, we would like to partner with Day of Caring to mobilize volunteers across our active construction (and possibly Neighborhood Revitalization) projects in the Sacramento area. No experience necessary, Habitat will provide all the tools and training needed and volunteers will have the opportunity to help build or revitalize a home for a deserving, low-income family in their community. Because Habitat volunteers provide 90% of the labor on our homes, volunteers will have the opportunity to be involved in a myriad of construction tasks and work alongside the families who will eventually be living in the homes.

Location: Sacramento County (TBD)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 60

Health Education Council

Mark White Park Takeover!
Join us to beautify the Mark White Park in Roseville for a day! As an essential volunteer, you may help paint fresh lines on the basketball court, clean out the sand in the play area, paint fences or help with other activities that will beautify the park.

Location: Placer County (Roseville)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 50

International Rescue Committee – Not Available – Selected by Young Leaders Society

Back to School Backpack Drive
Help refugee children prepare for their very first term of school in the United States by being a part of the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Back to School Backpack Drive! The IRC helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Our families often arrive to Sacramento with little more than the clothes on their backs and greatly benefit from the support of their new community. Volunteers will assist in organizing school supplies and packing backpacks with essential items while learning about the IRC and the populations we serve. Volunteers will also be provided with a traditional Afghani lunch prepared by one of our former clients!

Location: Sacramento County (Arden)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 12

KidsFirst

KidsFirst Not So Extreme Makeover- Day of Caring Edition
KidsFirst is a counseling and family resource center. We recently moved locations and need to make the interior/exterior of the building more attractive and warm for the families who visit. Hone in on your Pinterest and HGTV skills and help us dress up our space!

Location: Placer County (Auburn)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 15

La Familia Counseling Center

“Lets Build Maple”
Honor the community and help clean the grounds of Maple Neighborhood Center! Help us pull weeds, clean windows, scrub & sanitize the restrooms, paint lines & signs in the parking lot, revitalize the garden area and the soccer field. We also need help cleaning up and painting the tennis courts, painting the child care room and cleaning up the play ground at the child care area. We have lots of work to do that can only be accomplished by Day of Caring volunteers!

Location: Sacramento County (South Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 30

Make-A-Wish Northeastern California & Northern Nevada

Our Wishing Room has a wish you can help grant.
Our Wishing Room and Family play area are where the wishes of many Wish Children are realized for the first time. Each area has a wish of its own: a new coat of paint and some organization. Our Celebration Hall kitchen, where Wish Celebration parties take place, could also use some organization and sprucing up.

Location: Sacramento County (Natomas)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 30

New Morning Youth & Family Services

Hillside of Beauty
We need volunteer community members to join us as we beautify our grounds to create a more friendly, comfortable, and welcoming environment for the families we serve. We will be clearing brush, trimming trees, laying down netting and bark.

Location: El Dorado County (Placerville)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 15

Next Move

Building Our Way Together, A Meditation Garden Project
Volunteers will engage in initial stages of multi-phase projects to create a seating area as part of a larger “Meditation Garden” at the newly remodeled Next Move Family Shelter Campus. This project includes the assembly of a Pergola Kit, laying of 10′ x 10′ sand-set paver patio and planting flowers.

Location: Sacramento County (Oak Park)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 15

Northern California INALLIANCE

Water, Water (Conservation), Everywhere
INALLIANCE needs assistance with beautifying our campus. We are looking for volunteers to help us make our offices welcoming to the community before our upcoming remodel to add more office space. Our huge back lot area has been overcome with weeds that need to be tamed to create less of an eye sore. Lets weed whack it down and treat it so the weeds don’t come back. We will also be adding a water conservation system that will allows us to harvest over 1600 gallons of rain water. Help us conserve this vital natural resource and reduce a potential fire hazard.

Location: Sacramento County (Fruitridge)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 15

Placer Food Bank

School Backpack Program
We will be assembling backpacks with food for local school children. During the week eligible students receive a free hot lunch at school. Weekends often result in them missing out on important meals that are crucial to their health and development.

Location: Placer County (Roseville)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 15

ReIMAGINE Mack Road Foundation – Not Available – Selected by Nationwide Insurance

We’re not KIDding around! You complete our Community Center
This one day project will completely transform an empty field! Building on a successful volunteer playground build, this project will complete phases 2 and 3 of our outdoor play space at the new Mack Road Valley Hi Community Center. Phase 2 will see us partner with the US Soccer Foundation to install a full irrigation system and turf to support a FREE soccer program in the Valley Hi Mack Road community. Phase 3 will install a children’s play area and obstacle course to exercise the minds and bodies of our smallest citizens! Join us and find your inner child for the day!

Location: Sacramento County (South Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 120

River City Food Bank

Banking on Food
Bag, sort, fill, tote, paint, help and organize. These are the verbs of the day! River City Food Bank needs 10 to 15 volunteers daily to keep our bank humming. On the United Way Day of Caring, we are in need of volunteers to do the behind the scene work as well as the customer service work to feed those who struggle to put food on their table. Most of our work is inside, but our outside benches need a new coat of paint and donation bins need to be spiffed up. We need you to make it all happen. Help us continue to serve on a day when we are also getting ready for fall food drives and the holidays.

Location: Sacramento County (Midtown Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 15

Sacramento Children’s Home – Not Available – Selected by Nationwide Insurance

Creating Curb Appeal At The Crisis Nursery!
The Sacramento Children’s Home is seeking a group of volunteers on the 2015 Day of Giving to help us spruce up the curb appeal at our North Crisis Nursery. The Sacramento Children’s Home operates Sacramento’s only Crisis Nursery Program out of two locations. Our mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect by providing support to families at times of crisis. The Sacramento Crisis Nursery Program is a family-strengthening program where parents can bring their children, newborn through age five for emergency child care or overnight care during stressful or difficult times. On September 11th, we are seeking a group of volunteers that can help us paint the fence of the North Nursery as well as help out with some simple yard work to improve the overall curb appeal of this facility. This is a fun and rewarding opportunity, to get outside, do some painting and weeding, and make a huge difference for Sacramento’s only Crisis Nursery Program!

Location: Sacramento County (North Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 25

Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center

Lettuce Turnip the Beet in this Garden
Caroline Wenzel Elementary School focused on building momentum and gaining interest with extended learning in the garden this past school year. The after school program built the existing garden beds to augment garden-based nutrition education in the classrooms. The passion and enthusiasm of both the administration and the students are apparent the moment you walk on campus, but it is curbed due to lack of resources to support the garden. On Day of Caring 2015, we aim to renovate the existing garden by leveling the landscape, defining the space with perennial shrubs, building compost bins and picnic tables, and painting an inviting path from the Science Technology Engineering and Science (STEM) Lab to the garden. Through this workday, we will support and inspire our students, site staff, and families to learn about the environment, agriculture, and healthy eating.

Location: Sacramento County (Pocket)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 50

Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services

Help us take steps toward a hunger-free community!
Volunteers will support this mission of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services by helping with projects at our Distribution Center. Volunteers will process and sort donated food in our warehouse as well as bag fresh produce for food distributions. Other possible projects are beautification of indoor and/or outdoor spaces which may include landscaping or small painting projects.

Location: Sacramento County (North Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 80

Sacramento Loaves & Fishes

Read and Feed
Start at our Mustard Seed School for children experiencing homelessness and be part of a special author reading, book giveaway, and kids activities. Then move into our Dining Room and help serve a hot and healthy lunch to six hundred men, women, and children. Join us at Loaves & Fishes and help serve the most vulnerable members of our community. With over 1,000 men, women, and children receiving services each day we need your help for some special projects. This is the perfect opportunity for a team of ten to build camaraderie and give back to our community.

Location: Sacramento County (Downtown Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 1:30
Volunteers Needed: 10

Sacramento Valley Conservancy

Weed the People! Camp Pollock Native Garden Planting and Court Yard Beautification Day
The former Boy Scout Camp needs your help with improving this beautiful piece of property, located along the North shore of the American River. This new 11 acre acquisition of the SVC, is located just North of Downtown Sacramento. Join like-minded community members to accomplish the following tasks: weeding, planting, upgrading and expanding native plant garden, court yard and camping areas, build benches, paint picnic tables and general grounds beautification, all while overlooking the beautiful American River. Be a part of something exciting!

Location: Sacramento County (Camp Pollock)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 70

Sacramento Valley Teen Challenge – Not Available – Selected by Zurich North America

Together We Can Paint For A Purpose
We invite you to join our painting party on United Way’s Day of Caring. We will be painting our residential home (the New Life Training Center) in mid-town Sacramento – inside and out! You, your family and your friends will be able to see this amazing home transformed before your very eyes as we put on a fresh coat of paint and spruce up the house. Sacramento Valley Teen Challenge is a residential Christian discipleship program for men and women struggling with life controlling problems. Our motto is “transformed lives, transforming the land” and we invite you to join with us through your service. Just as “a little paint goes a long way,” your participation goes a long way in helping teens, adults and families get the help they need. Together we can make a difference!

Location: Sacramento County (Midtown)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 20

Saint John’s Program for Real Change – Not Available – Selected by Nationwide Insurance

Refinishing for Change!
As a volunteer for our “Refinishing for Change” project, you will bring us your flare for furniture refinishing to sand, paint and replace some of the hardware for 21 dressers in “Our Second Story” transitional housing building. This project will be the delight of the women and children in our program who use these dressers on a daily basis. Join us on the Day of Caring and be a refinisher for change!

Location: Sacramento County (Power Inn)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 20

Salvation Army Sacramento County – Not Available – Selected by SAFE Credit Union

Making home a little sweeter for families in transition
Our transitional living center is housed on a cheerful property where low-income families can stay together and regroup while receiving counseling, education and job search assistance. There are large trees, beautiful landscaping, a playground, cheerful murals and a vegetable garden. With the help of volunteers we like to do a twice a year spruce up of the grounds: raking, weeding, adding mulch, and washing down railings and doors. This September we want to spiff up the colorful paint on the huge USA map and the “jumping kids” wall mural. Sounds like something you’d like to help with, right? Sign up for this project!

Location: Sacramento County (North Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 35

Suicide Prevention of Yolo County

Giving Back to Those Who Save Lives!
Help us give back to our wonderful, lifesaving volunteers! Suicide Prevention crisis line volunteer counselors answer our crisis lines 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. These dedicated individuals volunteer at least 6-hours a week to people of any age who are experiencing mental heath or other emotional crisis in their lives. Our project is to update our crisis line volunteer room by purchasing some needed pieces to make the room more efficient and comfortable. We would like to add some additional storage units that will hold baskets of some necessary and well-deserved amenities such as blankets, phone chargers, snacks, and toiletries as some of out volunteers work late into the night or early morning. Our project will involve moving and rearranging furniture, assembling storage units, mounting bulletin boards and shelving.

Location: Yolo County (Davis)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 10

Susan G. Komen

“Paint a Poster for Breast Cancer Heroes”
Help keep our breast cancer survivors and their loved ones motivated as they walk and run at our annual Race for the Cure. We will post your creative work of art and words of encouragement on our “poster alley” at the 20th annual Race for the Cure at Cal Expo on May 7, 2016. “There’s a hero in all of us” is our theme and you can be a part of this historic event as we save lives and find a cure to breast cancer.

Location: Sacramento County (Cal Expo)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 20

TLCS, Inc.

“Paint By Numbers” 9th Street Coop Needs a Facelift
Let’s get down and dirty painting together. Our 9th St. Co-op provides permanent supportive housing for people who are previously homeless with psychiatric challenges. These 2 adjoining midtown houses are cozy but are in desperate need an interior spruce up.

Location: Sacramento County (Downtown Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 10

Tuleyome

Let’s Get Physical: Sprucing Up Our Regional Park
Just up State Highway 16, an hour outside Woodland, you’ll find the jewel of the Yolo County Park system – Cache Creek Canyon Regional Park. As a whole, the 700-acre park offers opportunities for picnicking, nature study, fishing (you’ll find pike, carp, catfish and bass), hiking and horseback riding trails, river recreation and camping. The lower site provides entry to 54,000 acres of Federal Bureau of Land Management land, which includes the Blue Ridge Trail network. As the county’s only campground, and California’s first solar-powered campground, the middle site provides campsites, a playground, a day use picnic area, restrooms and access to Cache Creek. After the summer’s camping season, these sites need a good deal of sprucing up. Tuleyome will lead volunteer activities which will include removal of debris at the old Whitewater Adventures camp next to the Blue Ridge Trailhead. We will provide all of the tools and supplies necessary for the clean-up, we just need you!

Location: Yolo County (Rumsey)
Time: 9:30 – 3:30
Volunteers Needed: 75

Women’s Empowerment – Not Available – Selected by Nationwide Insurance

Employment Connect!

Women’s Empowerment, in collaboration with Sacramento Steps Forward, Volunteers of America and other service providers, will host the biannual Employment Connect. Employment Connect is a hiring event for homeless and formerly homeless Sacramento area residents which links potential employees with local employers. 40+ employers and other services providers are expected to attend! Volunteers will be instrumental in a hosting capacity to assist providers, employers and participants in having a positive event and experience! No special tools are needed. Since this is a professional hiring event, we ask that volunteers bring a positive attitude, professionalism and a desire to work collaboratively with others. Experience assisting job-seekers and employers is helpful, but not necessary.

Location: Sacramento County (Downtown Sacramento)
Time: 9:30 – 2:00
Volunteers Needed: 20

Yolo Community Care Continuum

Dirt and Dust! Oh My!
We need some muscles and brains! We will be cleaning around two of our residential houses doing some weeding, yard cleanup and beautification. Additionally, we will be cleaning out the garages – this is where we will need some muscle! Old and broken furniture will be removed and placed into an onsite dumpster. Many hands make light work!

Location: Yolo County (Woodland)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 15

Yolo Hospice

Yolo Hospice “You Are Loved” Craft Circle
Yolo Hospice is about living. Come contribute to the life and healing of dying patients by creating cards and mementos for them and their loved ones. Let them know they are loved and enjoy the camaraderie and dynamic atmosphere of Yolo Hospice.

Location: Yolo County (Davis)
Time: 9:30 – 1:00
Volunteers Needed: 15