Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
Engaging in meaningful service to communities served by Wright State University is truly embraced by the entire campus community. There are many wonderful organizations that need help. Identify a volunteer opportunity today. You will be guided through the process by prompts.
Below are some Dayton area volunteer organizations. Visit each website for more information on their volunteer needs and requirements. If you have additional opportunities you would like posted here, email us at weserveu@wright.edu.
AIM for the Handicapped, Inc.
To help individuals reach their highest potential through the AIM Method of Specialized Movement Education
Contact: Melanie Walden
Centerville-Washington Park District
Deliver fun, healthy, and outstanding park experiences that connect the community with the outdoors.
Contact: Ginger Clark at 937-433-5155
Crayons to Classrooms
To enhance the readiness to learn of all students in the greater Dayton region by providing them school supplies that are essential to academic success—at no cost to the students’ teachers, schools, or families.
Contact: Dave Hargrove at 937-528-6424
Dayton Access TV
Our mission is to serve as a community forum that empowers all citizens to learn, create, and express their ideas through electronic media.
Contact: Dale Grow
Dayton Art Institute
The Dayton Art Institute is looking for volunteers to work as ambassadors in supporting the Museum’s mission: “Through art, we create transformative and diverse experiences, strengthen community connections and inspire imagination.” With less than 100 employees and nearly 500 volunteers, the success of the DAI relies on the dedication and unique qualities of our volunteers. The Museum uses volunteers in many diverse ways and offers a variety of different opportunities for those wishing to get involved. Join the DAI’s momentum!
Contact: Amber Todd at atodd@daytonart.org
Dayton Philharmonic
The Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association (DPVA) supports the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra through the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. Activities in education, promotion, fundraising and membership assist in transforming lives through the power of music.
Contact: Marcia Wood
Five Rivers MetroParks
Five Rivers MetroParks protects the region’s natural heritage and provides outdoor experiences that inspire a personal connection with nature. Volunteers support staff through opportunities such as trail work days, invasive plant removal, reforestation efforts, large events, and much more.
Contact: Volunteer Services at 937-275-7275
Girl Scouts of Western Ohio
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
Contact: Danielle Richardson at 937-279-6523 and
Kelleigh Claywell at 937-279-6518
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity believes that all hard-working individuals and families should have access to the benefits and stability of homeownership. In this belief, we are committed to partnering with families to build safe, healthy, and affordable homes.
Contact: Krissy Day
Hannah’s Treasure Chest
Hannah's Treasure Chest is a nonprofit organization which enriches the lives of children in need by providing care packages of clothes, shoes, books, safety equipment, and hygiene items, including diapers, through a network of nearly 50 partner agencies in Butler, Greene, Montgomery, and Warren counties.
Contact: Trudy Bechtolt at 937-438-5039
Homefull
Homefull, a local Dayton nonprofit serving people experiencing homelessness. With the mantra of "Food, Housing, and Jobs," Homefull is focused on decreasing poverty in our community while holding onto the vision of a community where there is no homelessness.
Contact: Sierra Gaunt at 937-262-4640
Ohio's Hospice of Dayton
At Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton, we celebrate life’s stories every day through the experiences we are privileged to have with our patients and their families. Our mission is to celebrate the lives of those we have the privilege of serving by providing superior care and superior services to each patient and family. We are a non-profit, community-based hospice, serving patients in a variety of settings. We provide specialists in hospice and palliative care including physicians, registered nurses, advance practice nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, home health aides, chaplains and pharmacists. These professionals work energetically to help patients and caregivers gain comfort and peace of mind while embracing life’s journey.
Contact: Volunteer Services
Humane Society of Greater Dayton
We are a no-kill organization and the oldest, most-established animal welfare agency to care for all types of animals in the Miami Valley. We want to enhance the pet-human relationship. We investigate animal cruelty, enforce laws, and perform rescues to ensure all animals are valued and free from suffering.
Contact: Jodi Rettig
Humane Society of Greene County
To prevent animal suffering from overpopulation by way of a spay/neuter subsidy programs. To eliminate neglect and abusive treatment of livestock by enforcing the statutes according to the Ohio Revised Code and additionally to promote education in the humane care and maintenance of all animals.
Contact: inquireHSGC@gmail.com
City of Kettering
The City of Kettering Volunteer program strives to provide volunteers with a positive experience that will promote creativity, expand knowledge, and utilize skills and talents. They welcome the opportunity to work with groups of volunteers.
Contact: Dawn Kirchner, Volunteer Administrator at 937-296-2531
KIND
KIND has provided programming for low-income families. Often these families struggle to find programs for their children because of the barriers created by expense, transportation or exclusion of children with behavioral problems. KIND eliminates these barriers, accommodating children ages K-6th. For many of our families, KIND is the first opportunity for their children to participate in the same program.
Contact: kidsinnewdirections@gmail.com
National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF)
NAHF's mission is to to honor America’s aerospace pioneers and memorialize and share their impact for the inspiration of leaders to come. They accomplish this through events, programs, and outreach. Volunteers are the heart of the NAHF, and they are looking for new volunteers (18 years and older) to help tell the stories of America’s top aviators and astronauts.
Contact: Patrick Cook or call 937-256-0944, ext. 16
Omega CDC
All work at Omega CDC is to benefit and support the children and families in Northwest Dayton. Volunteers are needed and appreciated. It truly takes a village. There are a variety of tasks that volunteers can help with – front desk receptionist coverage, greeting guests, answering the phone, filing and copying. Volunteers are also needed at Fairview Elementary or E.J. Brown Middle School to read to the students or help in the cafeteria, serving food.
Contact: info@omegacdc.org
Project READ
Project READ is the literacy coalition serving the Dayton area. Project READ builds skilled workers, strong families, and healthy communities through lifelong literacy.
Contact: Holly Elkins-Lopez
Natural Helpers
The Natural Helpers program provides mentoring to court-involved youth to build pathways beyond treatment by connecting the youth with pre-screened and trained volunteers. The adult volunteers give the mentee access to education opportunities, life skills development, art, music and other pro-social skills. The mission of Natural Helpers is to create positive futures with court-involved youth and families by building community solutions. If you are an individual, age 18 and older, who is interested in providing support and encouragement to youth, and connecting them with opportunities and services that are designed to bring about positive life changes, please apply. After completing an interview, natural helpers are provided with training and matched with a youth. Call Gabriella Clements at (937) 225-5072.
Contact: Gabriella Clements
Reminisce Gardens
Assist Cultural History Facilitators in engaging seniors and caregivers in online cultural history narratives from timelines and archived newspaper articles for cultural history discussions. Currently focused on the 1950s. Facilitators are encouraged to take highlight notes of discussions and collaborate with caregivers and seniors (when possible) to use for short written narrations that can be used for audio files. Some in-person presentations maybe asked of volunteers and optional or at the discretion of each volunteer. Assistants maybe asked to lead, but not required. This is a good and suitable opportunity for college students.
Contact: ReminisceGardens@gmail.com
The Salvation Army Dayton Kroc Center
The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center is a 25-acre family support, education, recreation, and cultural arts center. The facility is open to members and the general public and serves residents of Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding communities with a variety of quality programs for individuals of all ages.
Contact: Joanna Brown, CVA
Scholars of H.O.P.E.
Scholars of H.O.P.E. provides after school programming for students attending Edwin Joel Brown Middle School and Fairview PreK-6 School at Fairview Commons. The program is designed to meet students’ academic and social needs by increasing the amount of learning and enrichment opportunities and fostering a safer after school environment.
Contact: Dormetria Thompson, Out of School Time Director
SICSA
Our mission is to promote the welfare and adoption of companion animals, and nurture loving, lifelong relationships between animals and people. To support our mission, SICSA offers numerous animal-centered programs and services for families and children.
Contact: Jenna Jones
A Special Wish
The mission of A Special Wish Foundation–Dayton Chapter is to grant the wish of a child or adolescent (birth through age 20) who has been diagnosed by a physician with a life-threatening disorder.
Contact: Amber Maham
Therapeutic Riding Institute
To enhance lives by providing accredited therapeutic equine experiences in a safe, fun, and compassionate environment.
Contact: Sam Ingersoll
We Care Arts
We believe in the healing power of creating and producing art that transforms physical, developmental, and mental challenges into a future rich with possibilities. We’re guided by our vision that creating art compliments medical therapies.
YMCA
YMCA promotes youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.
Contact: Kelcy Lemke
YWCA
As one of the oldest and largest women’s organizations in the nation, YWCA Dayton has been at the forefront of the most pressing social movements for nearly 150 years—from voting rights to civil rights, from affordable housing to pay equity, from violence prevention to health care reform. Today, we combine programming and advocacy to generate institutional change in three key areas: racial justice and civil rights, empowerment and economic advancement of women and girls, and health and safety of women and girls.
Contact: Kelsi Martinez
Thank you for checking out our volunteer opportunities.
