August 06, 2021
Volunteering is a great way to get to know and support a community. Whether you help clean out rivers, assist at a food pantry, coordinate an event, or fold clothes, you are helping a community thrive. Every month on the Let’s Detroit blog, we will be sharing ten volunteer opportunities in Southeast Michigan you can get involved in. Some opportunities will have specific dates and others will be more flexible. Here are upcoming volunteer opportunities in Southeast Michigan for August 2021.
Photo provided by Keep Growing Detroit
Help promote food sovereignty in Detroit with Keep Growing Detroit (KGD), a nonprofit whose mission is to grow the majority of the fruits and vegetables that Detroiters eat within the city’s limits. KGD is looking for volunteers to help them take care of their farm all August in preparation for their Garden Resource Program Fall Crop Distribution. Pre-register to volunteer online.
Volunteer Dates: Every Tuesday and Thursday in August from 5:30-7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 8 and 22 from 10 a.m. to noon. Location: 1850 Erskine St. Detroit, MI 48207
Volunteer at the Lafayette Greens Garden, an urban community space and garden in the heart of downtown Detroit. Known for being a place where visitors, city workers, and neighborhood residents can go to enjoy and relax, the space is also used for seasonal programming and to grow fruit, vegetables, and pollinator-friendly flowers during the summer. Anyone can volunteer with Lafayette Greens Garden, including Michigan State University students who need a school-approved community service project. Sign up for individual dates to volunteer on www.greeningofdetroit.com/events.
Volunteer Dates: Aug. 12, 19, and 26 from 10 a.m. to noon
Location: 132 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226
Photo provided by the River Raisin Institute
Help beautify the Cass Park area in Detroit during the second annual neighborhood beautiful event with Clean Detroit and Detroit Shipping Company (DSC). As a volunteer, you’ll help pick up trash, clean out flower beds, plant flowers, weed, and assist in other ways to help improve the neighborhood. Complimentary refreshments will be provided after the cleanup for all volunteers. Event hosts will also provide gloves, trash bags, water, waste bags, and other cleaning tools. Sign up to volunteer online.
Volunteer Date: Aug. 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: 474 Peterboro St. Detroit, MI 48201
Spend some time near or on the water during the ‘Second Fridays’ or Saturday Public Cleanup at Belle Isle. A collaborative event between Belle Isle Conservancy and the Detroit River Coalition, this family-friendly volunteer event will occur on the second Friday of each month, July-October, and the third Saturday of each month, May-October. Friday cleanups will be on land only. Participants in Saturday cleanups are invited to bring kayaks.
Volunteer Date: Aug. 13 and 21 from 9:30 a.m. to noon
Location: Belle Isle Aquarium, 900 Inselruhe Ave., Detroit, MI 4820
Help native plants flourish in the Crosswinds Marsh by volunteering at the Purple Loosestrife Removal event hosted by River Raisin Institute. Purple Loosestrife is an invasive species that has taken over the marsh, crowding out the diverse array of native plants and flowers. Removing invasive plants and species will help create a healthier ecosystem. Sign up to volunteer online.
Volunteer Date: Aug. 14 from 9 a.m. to noon
Location: 27600 Haggerty Road, New Boston, MI 48164
Photo provided by Soldiers’ Angels
Help feed low-income and homeless veterans during Soldiers’ Angels’ drive-through Feed Detroit Veterans food distribution event. As a volunteer, you will help pack bags of groceries and load the cars or carts of attending veterans. Sign up to volunteer online.
Volunteer Date: Aug. 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Joe Louis Post 375, 19486 Sherwood St. Detroit, MI 4823
Assist with food distribution at the Mercado Food Hub at the Ford Resource and Engagement Center, a food pantry by Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit. As a volunteer, you will help load shopping carts indoors, load food into vehicles, pack food, and clean. Sign up to volunteer online. View more volunteer opportunities with GCFB here.
Volunteer Date: Aug. 11 and 18 from 1:30-6 p.m.
Location: 2826 Bagley Ave. Detroit, MI 4821
Photo provided by Charles H. Wright African American Museum
Enjoy the vibrancy of the 38th annual African World Festival in Detroit as you volunteer. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is looking for multiple special event volunteers to help in different areas for the festival. Current areas they are looking for volunteers for include the beverage booth, festival merchandise and information booth, site office, ticket booth, vendor booths, volunteer check-in booth, Watoto (children) Village, and entertainment/hospitality booths and stages.
To volunteer, send your interest and availability to nnichelle@chwmuseum.org. Each volunteer position will have different shifts available. Learn more about each position on their volunteer post.
Volunteer Date: Aug. 20-22, shifts vary
Location: 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit, MI 48201
Help support and empower asylum seekers in Detroit as a volunteer with Freedom House Detroit. They are looking for remote volunteers to join their Voice of Freedom (VOF) Team to help plan their annual, signature fundraiser. Traditionally, their fundraiser would be a gala with dinner, an auction, speeches, and awards, but 2020 encouraged the team to get creative. They turned it into a four-part virtual event series that culminated in a festival of music and alumni reflections.
The VOF team currently has a targeted engagement crew, marketing crew, event production crew, and project management crew. View each crew and their volunteer positions here. Freedom House asks each volunteer to commit to at least eight hours per month and have access to teleconferencing software like Google Meets or Zoom. Sign up to volunteer here.
Volunteer Date: Flexible, eight hours required per month
Location: Remote
With more than 8,500 people experiencing homelessness in Michigan on any given day, the Wave Project set out to provide showers to those in need. They created the Mobile Service Shower that anyone can walk up to, providing up to 30 showers in a four-hour window. Contribute to the project as a volunteer on their Mobile Services Crew.
Every Saturday, the Mobile Service Shower is placed in two different areas. They first take it to the Redford Brightmoor Initiative (12065 W. Outer Drive, Detroit, MI 48223) from 8-11 a.m. Then, they take it to the Team Wellness Center (6309 Mack Ave. Detroit, MI 48207) from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They also partner with community organizations to provide shower events on other days.
Sign up to be a part of the Mobile Services Team at either the Redford Brightmoor Initiative or the Team Wellness Center online. Each shift is for three hours.
Volunteer Dates: Aug. 7, 14, 21, and 28, shifts vary
Location: The location varies depending on the selected Mobile Services Team
Written by Krishaun Burns, Let’s Detroit
