Places to Volunteer in Ventura County

People often like the idea of volunteering to help the community, but sometimes people have a hard time finding a good place to volunteer. If you are interested in doing some community service, here are some places in Ventura County that you might consider volunteering:

American Cancer Society of Ventura County

When you think about volunteering for the American Cancer Society, the only thing you may know about is the Relay for Life, but there are hands-on ways that you can help people in your community with cancer.

The American Cancer Society locally is seeking volunteers to drive patients to and from their treatments. Driver's license, car insurance, and clean driving are required. Call 1-800-ACS-2345, or In Moorpark- 805-529-2530, Simi Valley - 805-527-2375, or Thousand Oaks- 805-497-0114 (opt 3).

Hospice Programs

Throughout Ventura County there are several hospice programs that provide volunteers to comfort the terminally ill and their families. Words cannot describe how much these services mean to the family. The hospices themselves also often seek volunteers to help with office and administrative work. Here are some hospice programs you could consider working with:

Assisted Home (all throughout Ventura and LA County): 805-677-7405

Camarillo Hospice: 805-389-6870 ext 18

Hospice of the Conejo: 805-495-2145

Kaiser Permanente Hospice: 1-818-832-7295

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association: 805-642-0239

ProCare: 805-983-4708

Silverado Hospice (Westlake and Simi Valley): 1-888-328-6636

TLC Home Hospice: 805-517-1620

Literacy Programs

There are many kids, teens, and adults in Ventura County who have trouble reading. If you can read, you can help someone else learn how. Training is provided, and literacy program sites are open all over the county. Here is who you can contact:

Ventura County Library: 805-641-4484

Project Understanding (kids in Oxnard and Ventura): 805-652-1326

Santa Paula Library: 805-525-2384

Boys and Girls Club of Simi Valley: 805-527-4437

Conejo Valley Adult School: 805-374-1161

Laubach Literacy of Ventura County: 805-385-9584

Help the Elderly and Disabled

Life can be tough for the elderly and disabled, especially if they don't have family around to help. There are programs that provide assistance to make life a bit easier and more pleasant.

Books on Wheels (Simi Valley) - Deliver and pick up books from the library. You can also read to people who are visually or physically unable to do so. (805)583-5043.

Braille Institute - Volunteers are needed for a number of services, especially driving visually impaired students to and from classes. (805)682-6222

Camarillo Health Care District- Seeking drivers for a home-delivered meal program, as well as volunteers for the community meal site and people to assist with activities at the Adult Day Support Center. (805)388-1952 ext 141

Caring Neighbors- Volunteers are needed to drive people to appointments and errands, go shopping for shut-ins, help with phone calls, do light housekeeping and yard work and minor repairs. (805)497-6207.

Meals on Wheels (Westlake, Agoura, and Oak Park): 496-2009

In Conclusion...

There are also other national programs you can volunteer with, such as Habitat for Humanity, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the American Red Cross, but these are just a few programs specific to Ventura County.