In celebration of Volunteer Week on April 16-22, 2023, volunteers and companies across Portland teamed up with local nonprofits to make our community stronger, healthier, and more vibrant.
And the numbers are in! Here are the results from Volunteer Week 2023 in Portland on Field Day:
- 15 volunteer events with 12 Portland metro area nonprofits
- 115 volunteer roles filled
- 255 total volunteer hours
- $7,622.28 worth of volunteer time (valued at $29.95 per hour)
All in all, there were over a thousand food sacks packed, hundreds of pounds of donations sorted, countless meaningful connections made, and more. Here’s a closer look at some of the community events that happened during Volunteer Week 2023 on Field Day:
EBA Teammate with Every Body Athletics
Volunteers joined an inclusive fitness class at Every Body Athletics, working out alongside athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities to model proper techniques and provide encouragement.
“It was awesome to connect with the athletes and see everyone work together. The whole event was really well set up, from the conversation prompts to the diversity and cadence of the exercises. I could tell the athletes were enjoying it just as much as I was! Paige was a phenomenal leader and a joy to work with, and I will definitely be volunteering with EBA again.” – Volunteer
Plan this activity as a Field Trip for your company or team →
Cards of Encouragement for Isolated Older Adults with Full Life Care
Volunteers gathered on Zoom to create cards with encouraging spring-themed messages for isolated older adults with Full Life Care – ending with an impressive show and tell!
Plan this activity as a Field Trip for your company or team →
Book Repair Session with The Children’s Book Bank at SMART Reading
Volunteers spruced up donated books at the Children’s Book Bank, which will be distributed to preschool children from low-income backgrounds in the Portland area.
"Thanks to volunteers like you, we are able to spruce up and redistribute over 100,000 kids books to over 10,000 kids each year! Parents and teachers always give us the feedback that they can feel the love behind each book! According to our family survey, 97% of the kids we serve said they were proud to own the books and were excited to read after receiving our books!" – Brittany Brock, Volunteer Program Manager, Children’s Book Bank
Plan this activity as a Field Trip for your company or team →
Warehouse Cleaning with Special Olympics Oregon
Volunteers helped Special Olympics Oregon get their warehouse back in order before their busy summer season of athletic events and competitions for adults and children with intellectual disabilities.
Plan this activity as a Field Trip for your company or team →
Shelter Spring Cleaning with Transition Projects
Volunteers tackled deep cleaning and organizing at Transition Projects shelters, helping to make the space feel like home.
"The biggest impact volunteers have on our work is intangible, but no less significant for that. Homelessness can be incredibly dehumanizing; when our participants see community members come in to help, whether serving a meal or sorting donations to restock our resource areas, that helps them to feel seen again and to know there are people out there who care and want to help." – Emily Coleman, Volunteer Program Supervisor, Transition Projects
Join this community event on May 12, 2023 →
Organization and Prep with Rahab’s Sisters
From sizing donations to organizing table displays, volunteers helped Rahab’s Sisters set up a fun, boutique-like shopping experience for 45 guests who dropped in that afternoon.
Plan this activity as a Field Trip for your company or team →
Packing Event with Portland Backpack
Volunteers created cards with messages of encouragement and belonging, and tucked them into the food sacks they assembled with for kids to take home from school for the weekend.
"Since its inception in 2008, Portland Backpack has been a volunteer-powered organization. Our volunteers create care cards, pack food sacks, purchase food — the list goes on and on — all with the intention of showing up for the kids in our communities. Between two packing events during Volunteer Week, volunteers packed 1176 food sacks. We are so grateful to all of our volunteers!" – Christy Sweany, Program & Volunteer Coordinator, Portland Backpack
Plan this activity as a Field Trip for your company or team →
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A big shoutout to the nonprofits who provided awesome volunteer experiences last week – and for the work they do to serve our community everyday! Thank you, Birch Community Services, Every Body Athletics, Forest Park Conservancy, Full Life Care, Our Streets, Rahab’s Sisters, Special Olympics Oregon, The Children’s Book Bank at SMART Reading, Transition Projects, Path Home, and Portland Backpack.
Don’t wait until next Volunteer Week to get involved – let’s keep that momentum going! Grab a friend and join an upcoming community event. Or, plan teambuilding volunteer events for your company or team by creating a Team on Field Day.
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