Top 10 Volunteer Opportunities in Columbus in 2019

Want to volunteer or intern at a great Columbus nonprofit? Whether you’re new to Columbus and want to learn about the city’s charities, trying to change up your routine with some local charity work, or just want to volunteer or intern at a neighborhood nonprofit, everyone knows that the best way to find the right place for you is from the people who’ve been there!

Here’s a list of volunteers’ and interns’ favorite Columbus charities. Every nonprofit on this list has earned an overall score of 4 or greater out of 5 on GreatNonprofits.org. If your favorite Columbus nonprofit or volunteer gig is missing, find it on GreatNonprofits.org, write a positive review, and show your co-volunteers how to start adding reviews and get it on the list!

Heartbeat International

“Heartbeat International provides resources and handholding for pregnancy resource centers. They develop best practices and make them widely available. I attended a Heartbeat conference. They are extremely focused on their mission and strive to bring the tried and true methods to help their affiliates help women and their children. They are uncompromising on their values and their mission.” – Gary 3

Jewish Family Services

“I have donated my time to conduct several seminars for Jewish Family Services over the years … and it is always a pleasure. JFS takes an active role in trying to teach managers and supervisors how they can build better workplace relationships with their employees and helping businesses succeed. JFS has also strived to assist those people who are looking for work in these tough economic times by provding them with trainnig on how to search for jobs, interview, draft resumes and so on. Jewish Family Services takes an extremely active role in helping the people and the businesses of central Ohio be more successful. JFS is a great asset to our community and I am proud to conduct training sessions for them whenever they want.” – Scott Warrick

TECH CORPS

“TECH CORPS is a great nonprofit with the goal of educating students about the computer science and technology field. I worked as a Techie Camp and HS Coding Camp instructor this summer and had a wonderful experience teaching kids about a growing field that they don’t get much of an opportunity to learn about during the school year. If you have a student that is interested in learning about programming, robotics, video game production, or cyber security I would highly recommend their programs.” – Writer

Free to Smile Foundation

“Free to Smile is a wonderful nonprofit. It provides life-changing and often times life-saving services for men, women and children in underdeveloped countries all around the world. I am proud to be a part of the work they do” – Shannon G.

Giggles & Coos

“Giggles & Coos is an amazing organization that is passionate about serving poverty stricken communities. This was the first time we had an opportunity to be apart of this amazing organization, during their annual Christmas Toy Drive. It was this experience that changed the lives of myself and my teenage son. Since volunteering for this event, it has inspired us to get more active in the community year round. Thank you Giggle and Coos for all you do to improve lives for the less fortunate” – Writer

Community Kitchen

“I began volunteering at the Community Kitchen with a group of ladies from my parish. We look forward to going to CK to help with prep and serving of lunch. The staff is always welcoming, kind and helpful. This organization provides wonderful meals and services for those who need it. Those who come to the CK are made to feel welcome and treated with respect. It is great to know that there is a place out there where people who are hungry can come in with no questions asked and receive a meal prepared and served by kind and loving people.” – NM Wade

Ohio Newsboys Association

“I have been a NEWSIE Volunteer for about 12 years, and am very active in the organization. This charity clothes thousands of needy schoolchildren each year and has been in existence since 1906. We provide new clothing including shoes and a new winter coat for the school year. Our belief is that no child should be unable to attend school because of a lack of suitable clothing. We take applications and do a home visit so that we may personally interact with each child being clothed. This interaction is a positive experience for not only the child, but the parent and the NEWSIE volunteer, as we meet with each child and try to stress the importance of trying hard in school. I have enjoyed being a part of the Newsies, including the camaraderie among the members, and hope to continue working for this worthy organization for many years to come.” – Laura Dodd

Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed

“I volunteered with FLOW as part of a class service learning project at Ohio State University. I attended several meetings and helped with an initiative to convince local golf courses to become more environmentally friendly. FLOW is a great group with a very strong volunteer base, I was amazed by how many active projects they had at one time and how well organized they were at executing all of them. The members I met were all very friendly and very dedicated to their cause of improving the quality of the Olentangy River watershed. “ – Darryl Marois

Employment for Seniors

“EFS and all the volunteer counselors have the passion to assist all who through doors in an effort find those over fifty gainful employment .They care about every aspect of your job seeking experience and will go to many extra levels to help them succeed, like re-doing a resume, classes for those over 65 and some counselors make calls to those if they see a job that might suit their comfort or skill level . Excelent nonprofit” – Kellum 88

Wagons Ho Ho Ho 

“Wagons Ho Ho Ho is a fantastic organization that not only serves families and children in need during the holiday season, but also brings the community together in a way that TRULY matters. Every volunteer cares deeply and the organization has a special way of making each person feel as though Wagons Ho Ho Ho is “their charity”. This is a wonderfully special group of people who move mountains each and every year… all in the hopes that just one child will feel loved and find hope.” – Donnelly D.