At United Way of Story County, we invite you to make a real impact in our community through volunteer opportunities of all kinds. Whether you’re interested in mentoring youth, assisting with food drives, or helping a senior complete their taxes, your time and talents can bring about meaningful change. Join us in supporting those in need, fostering connections, and building a stronger community together.
Local Volunteer Opportunities
Day of Caring, group volunteering, and Women United are three of the most popular volunteer opportunities we coordinate. Click below to learn more or contact us at volunteer@uwstory.org for help finding an opportunity that works for you.
Each September, UWSC hosts Day of Caring—a county-wide volunteer event tied to our campaign kickoff. Volunteers team up with local agencies to complete projects that strengthen programs and build community. It’s one day of action with a lasting impact. Join us!
Volunteering together builds team spirit and strengthens connections to our community. United Way of Story County offers fully managed on-site projects and kit-building events—your company covers supplies and a coordination fee, and we handle the rest.
Do you like working with children? Sign up to play with and provide care for a group of children, infants through elementary school age while their mothers attend financial education workshops. Volunteers will assist children with basic care needs and provide play supervision. Toys and materials provided.
Looking for Volunteers?
Have a volunteer need? Let us help! United Way of Story County connects local volunteers with meaningful opportunities. Register your agency or program’s project with us, and we’ll help match you with community members ready to make a difference.
Click here to submit your project requests.
Opportunities with Our Partners
Some of our partners have ongoing volunteer needs throughout the year. Below is a list of agencies currently seeking volunteers—check it out and find a way to get involved!
Contact: Kalen Petersen at director@cirsvp.org
- Volunteer Management- CIRSVP offers adult volunteers aged 55+ quality opportunities to share their skills, interests, and life experiences in response to a wide variety of community needs. CIRSVP recruits and places volunteers with over 80 public, non-profit, and health care agencies. For these organizations, CIRSVP staff process volunteer requests, promote volunteer needs, recruit and refer volunteers, and follow up on volunteer placements.
- Volunteer Driver Transportation Program- The RSVP Transportation Program provides Story County's older adults with safe and reliable transportation to and from medical appointments and other essential services within the county.
- Volunteer Management for Emergencies- Central Iowa RSVP has a special role in a disaster or major emergency in Story County. RSVP volunteers are pre-trained to staff a Volunteer Reception Center and a Non-Emergency Phone Bank. The Volunteer Reception Center registers all volunteers who step up to help in an emergency. They are issued proper identification and deployed at the request of city/county officials. The Non-Emergency Phone Bank is activated to help link volunteers and other resources with response and recovery needs.
Contact: Amy Divine at amyedivine@gmail.com or Sarah Bohlke at sbohlke@amespubliclibrary.org
- INSPIRE is a volunteer based, free tutoring program using the Barton Reading and Spelling System. The Barton System is a systematic and explicit way to teach reading and spelling designed specifically for kids with dyslexia. The Barton system is designed so almost anyone can easily be trained in the curriculum and begin tutoring right away. We do not expect our tutors to be experts, but simply people who enjoy working with kids and who are willing to do the training. You would need to pass a tutor screening that can be done online and takes about 10 minutes. Then, it would require a commitment of at least two one-hour sessions per week with the student that must all take place at the Ames Public Library, as well as a few hours of online training at home before each unit. A one year commitment is preferred. Contact Amy for more information.
Contact: Jodie Linse at jodie.linse@micaonline.org
- MICA needs an array of volunteers to help stock, sort, and more at their pantry located at 230 SE 16th Street in Ames. Room for 1-2 volunteers at a time. Email Jodie for more details!
Contact: Hanna Bell at hannabell@raising-readers.org
- Story Pals - Story Pals is a program that focuses on helping children who are identified as struggling with language skills in school. This program creates an atmosphere to help create the best learning environment for children, putting them in one one-on-one situations to help them learn through the dialogic reading method. Volunteers are expected to closely follow lesson guides during their sessions with students and promote environments of creativity, fun, and safety. All volunteers are expected to attend sessions twice a week for eight weeks. Morning and afternoon sessions are available.
- Reading Buddies - Reading Buddies provides free literacy sessions for children who are in first, second, and third grades. Volunteers will meet with students for personalized reading sessions to help each child with their literacy skills. These 45-minute sessions are held twice a week in the afternoon and supervised by RRSC team leads.
- Small Talk - Volunteers assist with childcare during Small Talk sessions, which allows parents to be engaged in educational sessions. These hour-long sessions allow parents to participate in group learning and activities that will help them facilitate language development at home with their children. Small Talk sessions occur on Thursday evenings from 6:00 - 7:00 PM at our North Grand Mall locations.
Contact: 515-233-3567 or Kathy Pinkerton at kathy.pinkerton@usc.salvationarmy.org
- The Salvation Army needs an array of volunteers to help stock, sort, and more at their pantry located at 703 E Lincoln Way in Ames. Call or email for more details!
Contact: 515-233-3141 | yss.org/program/mentoring
- For over 20 years, the YSS Mentoring Program has successfully matched children and mentors, creating life-changing—and often life-long—relationships. These mentorships create stability and consistency for our youth and provide a positive, caring role model in their lives. YSS Mentoring Offers:
- SCHOOL-BASED (Mentors 15+) Serves K-8th grade | 9 month commitment for 30-60 minutes per week
- COMMUNITY-BASED (Mentors 18+) Serves ages 6-17 in Boone & Story Counties | 12 month commitment for a minimum of 4 hours per month