Give Back Date Nights: Tampa Bay Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering has a way of filling hearts with unconditional love and gratitude, while spreading the sort of peace and generosity that our world so desperately needs lately. There are so many Tampa Bay volunteer opportunities, which makes planning a volunteer date is a great way to give back to your community while encouraging others to do the same. Here are some ways to get involved:

Poverty & Hunger

Feeding Tampa Bay
Feeding Tampa Bay recognizes that an empty tummy can be a daily occurrence for more than 700,000 individuals in the Tampa Bay region alone. They accept volunteers to help sort non-perishable goods, pack produce, build boxes, stock shelves or fill pallets. Every other Tuesday from 4pm-6pm they host an After Hours Warehouse Sorting event where volunteers go through donated products to inspect and sort each into specific categories. The next sorting will be held on July 18th. feedingtampabay.org/volunteer/

Community Food Pantry
Kick start your weekend by helping the food bank provide bi-weekly supplemental food for individuals, families, and elderly in need. The Kaye Prox Food Bank welcomes donations of food and personal and household care items for their food pantry. Join them any Wednesday and Friday afternoon to help serve individuals and families in need across the Tampa Bay region. thecommunityfoodpantry.com

Dress For Success of Tampa Bay
Dedicate your date night toward improving the lives of women in the United States and around the world by volunteering with Dress For Success Worldwide. Their mission is to empower women in the workforce by providing support, professional attire, and development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. In order to get started, volunteers must fill out a volunteer application (available online) and bring the completed form with them to the next orientation (held once a month). Volunteering together at one of this organization’s events could be a fun and meaningful way to give back. tampabay.dressforsuccess.org/get-involved/volunteer/

Kids & Families

Glazer Children’s Museum of Tampa
The mission of Glazer Children’s Museum of Tampa is to create learning environments where children play, discover and connect to the world around them to develop as lifelong learners and leaders. Free Tuesday is supported by Children’s Board of Hillsborough County to provide free admission to anyone from Noon – 7:00 pm. This initiative ensures that all families, regardless of ability to pay admission, can still access and interact with the Museum’s rich learning environments for children birth to age 10.  Volunteers on Free Tuesday help load in and out vendors, lead pretend play, and assist in resetting exhibits. glazermuseum.org/volunteer

Hope Children’s Home
For over 50 years Hope Children’s Home has cared for more than 5,000 abandoned, abused, neglected and orphaned children from as young as newborns to children 18 years old. There are two different volunteer opportunities: projects and events. Create a volunteer profile to scroll through everything going on in the upcoming weeks, or create your own. Calling all power couples! hopechildrenshome.org/new-volunteer/

Boys & Girls Club of Tampa Bay
The Boys & Girls Club works to enable all young people to reach their full potential as productive, responsible, caring citizens. Here in the Tampa Bay they host fun and exciting events almost every month, like barbecues, golf scramble, steak dinners, and more. You and your significant other can get involved by first filling out a volunteer application, then attending orientation held every first Tuesday of each month from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm, or every third Thursday of each month from 2pm – 4pm. bgctampa.org/get-involved/volunteer.aspx

LGBTQ Community

Pangaea Project Inc.
Through The Venture Compound, Pangaea Project provides an all-inclusive community art space as a venue for young, local up-and-coming or noncommercial/experimental visual and musical artists to express themselves in whatever form they see fit. They host over 100 visual artists from the Tampa Bay area, and also bring in performers from Japan, Hungary, Switzerland, Mexico, France and more. theventurecompound.com/

Metropolitan Charities Inc.
Metro wellness and community centers provide HIV services and medical care, social activities, classes, support groups, counseling, health and fitness programs, youth programs, substance abuse programs, older adult programs, behavioral health services and free HIV testing. Their mission is to promote a healthy environment for all while fostering diversity within the community regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or economic status. Fill out a volunteer application on their website to view their wide variety of volunteer opportunities from assisting at the LGBTQ Welcome Center and Metro Thrift and Gift, to staffing special events, leading community programs, and more. Their calendar online offers up to 11 different volunteer opportunities a day, like coping skills group discussions, overeaters anonymous, community acupuncture and more. metrotampabay.org/volunteer-metro/

Suncoast Yellow Ribbon Project
This nonprofit organization addresses suicide prevention and awareness. They work within communities to develop task forces, local resources and action plans, and offer programs for schools and faith based organizations. Contact Suncoast’s executive director, Betsey Falvey Westuba, at bwestuba@suncoastyr.org for more on how you can get involved with their inspirational and motivational presentations, support groups for suicide loss, community development programs, suicide prevention gatekeeper training, youth programs, and more. suncoastyr.org/get-involved-2/

Environment & Health

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful
Help promote a culture of environmental stewardship through volunteer and educational opportunities with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful. Through previous volunteer efforts, this organization was able to remove over 600,000 pounds of trash and debris, plant over 3,000 plants and trees, and host over 900 community improvement events. For every $1 donation, $22.50 is returned to the community thought environmental education and service projects. Sign up for Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful’s newsletter to hear about the latest volunteer opportunities and upcoming events. Volunteer for an event or project, adopt-a-road, or contribute a donation to show Tampa how much you care. keeptampabaybeautiful.org/involved.php

Moffitt Cancer Center
This organization invites volunteers of all ages, and offers the satisfaction of knowing you are contributing to a problematic issue that is important to the local community and to the world. The Moffitt Cancer Center offers four-hour shifts weekly Monday – Friday and encourages a 60-hour total commitment. Volunteers are offered the opportunity to work beside faculty, staff, and team members to ensure phenomenal patient care. moffitt.org/give/volunteer/

For more volunteer opportunities, check out volunteersuncoast.org/.

Feature image credit: Feeding Tampa Bay