August 7, 2025 | Volunteering

Greetings, Volunteers!

Happy Summer! Read on to find a list of new and ongoing volunteer opportunities for the month of August.

To sign up for an event this month and receive a month of free Garbage to Garden service, RSVP by email and we will help answer any questions you may have. Then simply send confirmation of your volunteer hours to volunteer@garbagetogarden.org to receive credit.

Happy Composting,

Garbage to Garden is working with the Portland Hearts of Pine to make their inaugural season low waste! Volunteer at a game and stay late or arrive early to watch. Volunteer responsibilities may include monitoring compost bins, changing out compost, trash, recycling, and clynk bags as needed and keeping the space tidy. Please email Bridget with your preferred shift time as well as your t-shirt size.

Dates: Saturday, August 9th / Sunday, August 17th / Saturday, August 30th / Saturday, September 13th

Shifts: 4:30pm - 6:30pm / 6:30pm - 8:30pm

We are looking for volunteers to help with waste station monitoring at the State Theatre Concert Series this Summer! Volunteer at a concert and stay late or arrive early to enjoy the show!
 
Volunteers will take shifts to monitor compost bins, change out trash/recycling/clynk bags as needed and keep the grounds tidy. Please email Bridget with your preferred event and shift time as well as your t-shirt size.

Sat & Sun, Aug 9th & 10th: Guster - 6:30pm - 8:30pm/8:30pm - 10:30pm

Wed, Aug 13th: The Dead South - 6:30pm - 8:30pm/8:30pm - 10:30pm

Sat & Sun, Aug 16th & 17th: Lake Street Dive - 6:30pm - 8:30pm/8:30pm - 10:30pm

Fri, Aug 22nd: Gregory Alan Isakov -  6:30pm - 8:30pm/8:30pm - 10:30pm

Sat, Aug 23rd: 12/OC - 6:30pm - 8:30pm/8:30pm - 10:30pm

Sun & Mon, Aug 31st & Sept 1st: Leon Bridges - The Crooner & The Cowboy with very special guest Charley Crockett - 6:30pm - 8:30pm/8:30pm - 10:30pm

Summer Sunsets at Thompson's Point are in full swing! These weekly events feature live music, local vendors food trucks, and more. Volunteers will help to monitor waste stations and sort compost, recycling, and trash throughout the events. Email volunteer@garbagetogarden.org to sign up.

Dates: 8/8, 8/14, 8/15, 8/21, 8/28, 8/29, 9/4, 9/5, 9/11 & 9/12

Shifts: 4:00pm - 6:30pm, 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Join our friends at Portland Porchfest, they are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help bring this year’s Porchfest to life on Sunday, September 7 from 12pm – 5pm in the Deering Center Neighborhood of Portland. This neighborhood music festival transforms front porches into stages and sidewalks into gathering places—and we need your help to make it happen!

Volunteer roles include:

Traffic Guardians – Help keep intersections safe and guide attendees.
Roadies – Assist bands with carrying gear to and from porches.

Shifts are just 1-2 hours! This is a great way to support your community, hear some live music, and have fun while you’re at it!

Sign up here: 2025 Porchfest Ambassador Form

3Rs is in its 30th year of service to schools and non-profits. Each day, throughout the school year, children in Maine attend school without needed pencils, paper, and other basic supplies.  At the same time, businesses in Maine dispose of these same basic items.  3Rs bridges the gap between business and education by transferring those unwanted supplies to children and their teachers.

You can see their available opportunities on their website and email office@ruths.org to sign up!

Maine Needs volunteers fulfill requests from caseworkers, teachers, in-home visiting nurses, and community organizers on behalf of their clients. Shifts may involve organizing and sorting donations, fulfilling requests and assembling packages, or even deliveries! If anyone loves to drive, they always need people to drive throughout the state for deliveries!

Click here to view their available shifts!

Independent Seniors Network is a nonprofit, 501(c)3, volunteer organization dedicated to helping older adults remain in their own homes as long as possible. Their network of volunteers provides transportation to medical appointments, grocery stores, and other appointments; They also provide friendly visits & phone calls, light household and gardening help, small handyman chores, and technology assistance. Many older adults struggle with many of these issues and lack the funding to hire outside help. They are always in need of more volunteers as more and more older adults need assistance. Their volunteers do so on their own schedules, as often as they’d like, and only services they want to provide.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or a member or would like more information, please email them at info@independentseniorsnetwork.org or call them at 207-370-1896.

Presente! Maine is a grassroots, mutual aid organization by and for displaced and dispossessed Afro/Indigenous-Latines in Maine. With their community, they codesign and implement survival programs that proactively address the most urgent public health, climate, and human rights struggles, while also working within systems of power to create a more equitable, joyful, and resilient future.

Their Despensa Solidaria - community food pantry - is held on the second & fourth Wednesday of each month at their office in Portland (795 Congress St. (former PelotonLabs building)). They distribute fresh, culturally relevant produce to their community at no cost. There are three shifts in which folks can volunteer:

- U-Haul/Produce Shift (9am-11am) - Pick up reserved U-Haul (411 Marginal Way, Portland) & head to Wayside Food Programs (135 Walton St, Portland). The entrance is at the rear of the building through the parking lot. Driver lets the warehouse manager know that they are picking up Presente’s food order then meets us at our office! 

- Warehouse Shift (11am-2pm) - Support them with the unloading & prepping of food & supplies for distribution!  

- Distribution Shift (4:30-7:30pm) - Support them with the physical distribution of food to community members! 

You can learn more & sign up here!

Maine Foodscapes is a federally incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to improve community food security and well-being throughout Southern Maine. Each spring, their Foodscapes Garden Project (FGP) connects Mainers currently experiencing limited resources with the tools needed to start growing their own food.

Volunteers help build gardens, table to promote the program, teach workshops, and more! Sign up to volunteer by filling out this form.