The 16th Annual Volunteer Expo

Volunteer Expo '23

News

There’s something quite motivating and fulfilling about helping others — from a spontaneous gesture between strangers to a commitment with an organization close to your heart. As humans, we rely on each other for survival, and volunteering is one way we can help each other to not only survive, but to thrive. We at Prudential Center are proud to bring local volunteers and worthwhile organizations together with our 16th Annual Volunteer Expo, to be held April 19 from 5 – 7 p.m. in Huntington Arcade.

The Volunteer Expo aids Boston-area nonprofit organizations in search of incredible volunteers — consider it a matchmaking experience between local nonprofit organizations and people looking to make a difference in their community. This fun, feel-good event is free and open to the public.

Which organization will benefit from your volunteering? Let’s take a look at a few that want to connect.

Arts & Culture

Girls Rock Campaign Boston

Girls, women, transgender, and gender-nonconforming youth and adults are all part of the GRCB (Girls Rock Campaign Boston) community. If you believe this space is for you, it likely is.

GRCB empowers girls, women, and gender-expansive youths and adults to believe in themselves by building a supportive community that fosters self-expression, confidence, and collaboration through music education and performance. GRCB is committed to creating an inclusive environment that welcomes and supports a range of gender-expansive identities and expressions.

GRCB relies on the generous participation and support of volunteers and donors alike. There are many ways to be a part of GRCB. Volunteers must be above the age of 19. Both year-round and session-based volunteers are needed.

Education & Research

MAXCourage

MAXCourage is seeking new volunteers from all backgrounds to offer their perspective and talents to its organization. The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum gives educators tools to help students discover their capacity for courage and find a voice to share their personal stories of courage with the world. Thanks to the generosity of volunteers, they’ve collected many stories of courage that have a special power to engage and inspire young people.

For over 30 years, MAXCourage has supported students and teachers in Boston, and beyond, with free English Language Arts and Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum. Become an essay judge and help select student stories for publication in their annual essay publication. MAXCourage also welcomes volunteers to speak at their annual gala and/or awards luncheon to share how courage has played a role in their lives.

Environment & Animals

Friends of the Boston Harborwalk

Love spending time out in Boston’s beautiful outdoors? Friends of the Boston Harborwalk may be the perfect match for you!

The FBHW is a group of volunteers with a mission to create awareness, promote public enjoyment, and foster local stewardship of Boston’s 43-mile Harborwalk. The group meets monthly to plan and coordinate three priorities:

Host informative, monthly two-hour tours highlighting different Harborwalk segments.
Develop engaging and site-specific interpretive signs for residents and visitors along the Harborwalk and collaborate with waterfront property owners and other stakeholders on their installation.
Organize waterfront clean-up events and report maintenance concerns to help ensure that the entire length of the Harborwalk is clean, safe, and inviting.

Connect with nature and others — take part in all the historic harborside has to offer!

Human Services

Heading Home

The comfort of home is not standard for everyone in the Greater Boston community. That’s where your support is needed. Heading Home is one of Boston’s leading providers of emergency shelter and transitional or permanent housing for extremely low-income families and individuals who have experienced homelessness. Their housing-plus-services approach sets clients on a pathway to self-sufficiency.

Heading Home offers off-site volunteering such as collecting and creating kits for clients, hosting a donation drive, or general fundraising, as well as on-site activities and seasonal opportunities. What way do you hope to contribute?

Women’s Services

Dress for Success Boston

If you love shopping at Prudential Center, fashion and style is likely your thing. The Dress for Success Boston boutique is currently seeking volunteer stylists to work with clients virtually and in person.

Dress for Success Boston is an affiliate of the Worldwide Dress for Success organization, which now has over 150 affiliates in 20 countries. Volunteers are the heart and soul of Dress for Success Boston.

IN THE BOUTIQUE (THE SUITING PROGRAM): Volunteers greet clients and take them through the space, which is set up like a high-end Newbury Street boutique. The volunteer stylists provide one-on-one services to women by helping them find an interview-appropriate outfit that fits well and helps project a professional image.

THE VIRTUAL SUITING PROGRAM (done via online meetings between a volunteer and a client): Volunteers shop online with clients and then the chosen, new items, are shipped directly to the clients. This program was created during the pandemic, but is still available to women who face transportation issues or live outside the Greater Boston area.

Speaking Opportunities: Dress for Success Boston participates in a wide variety of events to spread the word about services provided, connect with prospective clients, and raise funds for the organization. Volunteers are needed to speak to a variety of audiences throughout the Greater Boston Area and via Zoom.

Put your fashion sense to good use by volunteering at Dress for Success Boston.

Youth Services

Volo Kids Foundation

Let your inner child run free. The Volo Kids Foundation uses the power of play to build communities of active, resilient, and confident kids. Volo Kids accomplishes this by creating safe, youth-centered programming that provides a platform for youth mentorship, familial health and wellness, and communal well being. Their program removes barriers to athletic participation, such as limited financial resources and transportation, and is open to children of all races, genders, and experience levels.

There are several ways to volunteer at Volo Kids Foundation. Volunteer at a weekly sports program, volunteer seasonally, or find ways to volunteer a specific skill on your schedule from home.

Come See Us

As special education professor and author Leo Buscaglia said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Join us at the 16th Annual Volunteer Expo on April 19 to see how you might “turn a life around.”

Here is the complete list of participating non-profit organizations:

Arts & Culture

Education & Research

Environment & Animals

Human Services

Women’s Services

Youth Services