Volunteering with colleagues is a great way to boost engagement while team building and contributing to the local community! Here, UCSF managers will find information to organize volunteer activities for their teams.
How to volunteer with your team:
- The manager/supervisor must look through the volunteer opportunities listed below and identify one.
- Contact the organization directly through the email listed below.
- Coordinate a date and time to volunteer that works with your team's schedule.
- Please have all UCSF participants fill out the necessary waiver forms (varies by organization).
- UCSF Waiver: fill out the General Use Waiver from UCOP (available in Spanish).
- Please fill out Organization’s waiver forms (varies by organization).
- Managers should keep these documents for 12 months and then shred.
- Coordinate any transportation needed to and from the organization.
- Volunteer and take pictures!
- Email pictures to ucsfvolunteers@ucsf.eduto be highlighted in newsletter and social media communications. Please note that emailed picture assume all proper image consent.
- Fill out the post-volunteer survey form – we'd love to hear your feedback!
Below is a list of suggested local non-profits with group volunteer opportunities.
Non-Profits Organizations
Environment
Sutro Stewards Corporate Team Building Service Projects
The mission of the Sutro Stewards is to build community, connect people with nature, and protect and enhance Mount Sutro, one of the city’s wildest and most beautiful green spaces. We do this by working with volunteers to develop and maintain multi-use trails while conserving habitat for locally native plants and wildlife. Work with our team on conservation, nursery, and trail projects to accomplish meaningful work outside of the office.
Email info@sutrostewards.org to get started.
Presidio Trust
The Presidio of San Francisco is a national park site and a National Historic Landmark District. The Presidio Trust, a federal agency, stewards and shares the history, beauty, and wonder of the Presidio for everyone to enjoy forever. The Presidio Trust Volunteer Program is a part of the Golden Gate National Parks Volunteer Program, a cooperative parkwide effort of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the National Park Service, and the Presidio Trust. Take a break from your routine, get outside, get your hands dirty, and enjoy your spectacular national parks next door by supporting habitat restoration, nursery activities, forestry, and landscape maintenance projects. Learn more and register for volunteer opportunities at presidio.gov/support/volunteer.
Contact us at volunteer@presidiotrust.gov or (516) 561-5332.
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Preserve and protect over 80k acres of the Golden Gate National Parks, including Ocean Beach, Crissy Field, and the Presidio. Volunteer activities include growing and caring for native plants, identifying and removing invasive plants, and preserving and maintaining historic landscapes. Register for a project at Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy or email volunteer@parksconservancy with questions.
Save The Bay
Save The Bay has been working for over 60 years to protect and restore the Bay for people and wildlife. Engage in important restoration activities including native plant nursery work, planting, weeding, or removing trash from the shoreline (depending on the season).
Email bayevents@savesfbay.org to get started.
Refuse Refuse
Refuse Refuse is a grassroots volunteer campaign dedicated to a clean and trash-free San Francisco. We help educate the general public on ways that they can help to keep the city clean and organize neighborhood cleanups to give people the opportunity to pitch in.
Email info@refuserefusesf.org to get started.
Children and Families
Family House
Family House serves as a home away from home for families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses by providing physical comfort and emotional support, free from financial concerns. Gather your department, unit, or team to share quality time together while giving a helping hand to families in need.
Email kbanks@familyhouseinc.org to get started.
Urban Sprouts
Urban Sprouts plants the seeds of social equity to build healthy and thriving neighborhoods in San Francisco. We have five gardens and a community health and nutrition education program that works across the Southeast of San Francisco. Our programs work in spaces that serve as safe outdoor environments to strengthen community health and empower communities to define healthy living for themselves.
Email contact@urbansprouts.org to get started.
Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty
Student Food Market at UCSF
One of the most utilized resources of our Basic Needs program is the weekly Student Food Market. The market provides fresh produce and other goods to UCSF students every Thursday at the Mission Bay and Parnassus campuses. While the Student Food Market is mainly staffed by student workers, occasionally additional support is needed when student workers have exams or are on break. If you are interested in supporting the Student Food Market on an as-needed basis on Thursdays for any of the shifts, please contact us to be added to the notification list. Volunteer requests typically will be sent out on a Tuesday for assistance on that Thursday.
Email josephine.saechao@ucsf.edu to get started.
St. Anthony’s
St. Anthony Foundation has been a beacon of consistency, companionship, and caring for more than 70 years in the Tenderloin’s struggle with poverty, addiction, and mental illness. Volunteer in our Dining Room, Free Clothing Program, Tech Lab or Hygiene Hub. While St. Anthony's is called to attend to the immediate needs of those experiencing poverty, their objective is to cater to the whole person and empower them to achieve lasting, positive change in their lives. They think of their basic services as a gateway to stability.
Email GroupVolunteer@StAnthonySF.org to get started. Individual volunteers should email us to sign up at volunteer@stanthonysf.org.
SF-Marin Food Bank
SF-Marin Food Bank mission is to end hunger in San Francisco and Marin. They address hunger head-on – from the food pantry network and home-delivered groceries to CalFresh (food stamp) enrollment. There are three different main volunteer opportunities: Illinois Warehouse, SF Warehouse, and Marin County Warehouse.
Email vreply@sfmfoodbank.org to get started.
Larkin Street Youth
Founded in 1984, Larkin Street has helped over 75,000 young adults in San Francisco by providing a continuum of healthcare, housing, employment, and education services. Since its inception, Larkin Street has been committed to supporting young people in the fight against HIV/AIDS through its healthcare program.
Email volunteer@larkinstreetyouth.org to get started.
Habitat for Humanity, East Bay/Silicon Valley
By creating, preserving, and expanding access to affordable housing Habitat for Humanity, East Bay provides families with the opportunity to transform their lives – now, and for generations to come.
Habitat is currently seeking volunteers to help us build new homes and to support our Playhouse Program.
Email Volunteer@HabitatEBSV.org to get started.
Project Open Hand, San Francisco
Every day, Project Open Hand prepares 2,500 nutritious meals and provides 200 bags of healthy groceries to help sustain our clients as they battle serious illnesses, isolation, or the health challenges of aging. Volunteers help us with packaging meals and meal prep in our Kitchen, and sorting produce and packing bulk food into individually portioned packages in our Grocery Center Warehouse.
Email volunteer@openhand.org to get started.
Simply the Basics
Simply the Basics is the first ever nationally-reaching “Hygiene Bank”. The purpose is to provide hygiene essentials to people that otherwise wouldn't have access. Our focus is to improve physical health through accessibility and equitability of basic needs.
Email admin@simplythebasics.org to get started.
Non-Profit Matching Services
HandsOn Bay Area
HandsOn Bay Area connects companies and people with high-quality volunteer projects through our extensive network of local nonprofits and schools in need. They offer volunteer projects each week across the bay area to anyone who wants to help, covering all the causes people care about. Check out their community calendar!
Email info@handsonbayarea.org to get started.
If there’s an organization your team would like to volunteer with that is not on our list, please email us at UCSFVolunteers@ucsf.edu to request a review. We will work with Risk Management to review your request and will get back to you as soon as possible. We require 6-8 weeks' notice to list volunteer opportunities for an organization. We also ask that the volunteer opportunities are offered during Monday through Friday work days (for team building) and throughout the year (not just a one-time event). If it is approved, we will add the organization to our list.
