Places to Volunteer in Wichita

When you volunteer at Botanica, you are able to choose the activities that best suit your interests, talents and abilities. Volunteering at Botanica allows you to discover, while helping others discover, the beauty and the wonder of nature.

Volunteers are invited to help maintain the gardens by performing tasks like weeding and watering from April to October. In November, volunteers can help set up Botanica's annual Christmas light display, Illuminations. To learn more or to volunteer, click here.

Wichita's largest privately-funded, non-profit animal shelter organization, the Kansas Humane Society, can always use a helping hand.

The Humane Society offers a variety of volunteer opportunities, so there's a place for everyone! Some volunteer opportunities include appointment scheduler, dog walker, greeter, and even cat socializer! How cool is that? And these are just a few of the options that Kansas Humane Society has available! the If you love animals and you love helping out, the humane society is a great place to volunteer! Volunteers must fill out an application, attend training, orientation and an interview prior to volunteering.

The Sedgwick County Zoo offers flexible volunteer hours seven days a week. With positions available in several departments, participants can choose which programs are best suited to their skills and interests.

A volunteer information packet is available upon request via email from the Volunteer Director. Those who wish to volunteer should submit an email including the desired area of work, name, address, city, state and zip code, as the packet will be sent by mail. Volunteer opportunities are available for those under the age of 18, including volunteering for special events.

Tanganyika Wildlife Park is made possible by its volunteers, and a variety of volunteer positions are available. Ages 14 and up are invited to volunteer in the park, performing roles in landscaping, assisting at interactive experiences, special events and other projects.

Tanganyika offers weekly volunteer days and those who participate are welcome to come once or every week! These single-day projects can lead to long-term volunteer opportunities through the park's Docent Program. Docents are committed, long-term volunteers who can serve by handling the education animals. Learn more here. 

Run by the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, the Lord's Diner offers nutritious meals to those who need them, serving 2,500 meals per night from two Wichita locations. The Lord's Diner also haws two food trucks. Open seven days a week for 365 days year, the Lord's Diner only accepts volunteers with a food handler's license, but free classes are available through the Wichita Health Department on the first and third Monday and Saturday of each month. Classes are also available through current Lord's Diner volunteer groups, such as All Saints Catholic Church, Countryside Christian Church, Cross Road Church, Pleasantview Baptist Church, and Riverwalk Church of Christ. If you have a food handlers license, volunteer hours can be set up over the phone. 

Habitat for Humanity offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities that volunteers can sign up for on the Wichita Habitat website. Construction volunteer gain hands-on experience building houses under the Habitat for Humanity construction staff and core volunteers. No experience is needed for construction volunteers, and volunteers can bring and use their own tools. Closed-toed shoes are required. Volunteers ages 14 and over can help out in Habitat's ReStore. In this role, volunteers will sort inventory, stock and restock items, and prepare items for sale. Hospitality volunteers prepare the building sites for Habitat houses. This is an ideal opportunity for volunteers who would like to get involved, but may not be able to commit to a full volunteer shift. Other opportunities are listed on the Wichita Habitat website.

The Kansas Food Bank is accepting volunteers for its biggest volunteer project, the Food 4 Kids Program. The Food 4 Kids program provides bags of food to school children who may not have food over the weekend otherwise. The program currently provides for 6,000 children at 380 Kansas schools, and volunteers are needed to pack the food bags. Volunteers at the Kansas Food Bank can also sort cans, work the front desk and more. Volunteer hours can be determined by email or by phone. Policies regarding dress code, age restriction, and more can be found on the Kansas Food Bank website. 

The Big Brothers Big Sisters program allows volunteers to become a Big. What does that mean? It means that volunteers have the opportunity to change a child's life by bonding with them one on one as a Big Brother or Big Sister. Many children need a positive influence in their lives, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters program seeks to provide Bigs who can provide that positivity. Spending just a few hours with your Little three or four times a month can change his or her life forever. To volunteer, visit the Kansas Bigs website.