Want to add some volunteer work to your October calendar? With dozens of local causes making change in our city, you can seek out options that suit your interests and availability (or try something totally new). You just need to know where to look — that’s where we step in.
To help you find your fit, we rounded up a few October volunteer opportunities based on personal interests and personality traits.
The nature lover
Plant trees at a local library
- Date: Friday, Oct. 24
- Location: Hull Street Branch Library
- Sign up here
Join PlanRVA + the James River Association to help expand the tree canopy at a local library — an act of beautification as well as protection, adding vital shade to one of Richmond’s “urban heat islands.” Volunteers can opt for a morning or afternoon shift.
Plan ahead: The next planting day is Friday, Nov. 14, at the East End Branch Library. Sign up with the link above.
The introvert
Prepare cold-weather kits
- Dates: Drop-offs are due by Wednesday, Nov. 5, or Thursday, Nov. 6.
- Location: Make the kits in your own space; the drop-off address will be provided after registration.
- Sign up here
The Community Foundation + Homeward are seeking volunteers to help prepare cold-weather kits for people experiencing homelessness in Richmond. Complete a minimum of three kits in your own time and space, and register for one of two drop-off dates in early November.
Bonus: Recruit a crew and sign up as a team if you’d prefer some social time.
Over the years, Friends of East End has recovered more than 3,300 hidden grave markers at East End Cemetery, which was first founded in 1897.
Photo via Friends of East End
The historian
Help preserve a 19th-century cemetery
- Date: Saturday, Oct. 18
- Place: Evergreen Cemetery
- Sign up here
Help clear overgrowth, recover hidden grave markers, and honor the history of an African American cemetery in Richmond’s East End. Established in 1891, Evergreen Cemetery serves as the final resting place of Maggie Walker, John Mitchell Jr., and thousands of other African Americans.
Plan ahead: Next month’s workdays are Saturday, Nov. 8 + Saturday, Nov. 22. Sign up with the link above.
