From animal assistance to community building: A 2021-22 volunteer guide for Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto
This article originally appeared in Community Impact, click here for the original.
Help out your community in a number of ways throughout the year by volunteering with local nonprofit groups in Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto. Volunteer opportunities included in this guide range from helping animals to improving the environment. This list is noncomprehensive.
EMPOWER CHILDREN
Backpack Friends
The nonprofit provides low-cost, nutritionally dense foods for children on free and reduced meal programs so they have access to food on the weekends.
Sample activities: Volunteers help stock, count, sort and prep food bags and bins as well as drive food deliveries to their respective locations.
3217 Hawks Swoop Trail, Pflugerville
512-965-3052
Volunteer requirements:
Application: N
Background check: N
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y
Children at Heart Ministries
The organization specializes in providing support and resources for ministries that care for children and families in crisis.
Sample activities: Volunteer opportunities include providing meals and maintenance to assisting with special events.
1301 N. Mays St., Round Rock
512-246-4244
Volunteer requirements:
Application: N
Background check: N
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y
Footprints Children’s Grief Ministries
The program assists children ages 6-18 and their families who are experiencing loss due to death or divorce.
Sample activities: Volunteers are needed for an upcoming after-school program that will begin in early 2022.
402A W. Palm Valley Blvd., Ste. 335, Round Rock
512-705-5194
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y
Hope Alliance
The nonprofit provides a range of services and counseling for victims of family and sexual violence.
Sample activities: Volunteers answer crisis calls and assist with the organization’s programs.
1011 Gattis School Road, Ste. 110, Round Rock
512-255-1212
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y*
*only if accompanied by parents and only at their offices.
Hutto Family YMCA
The organization offers a fitness center, child watch center and children’s gym, an indoor aquatics center, and a full-size gymnasium for basketball and volleyball.
Sample activities: Volunteers provide a variety of assistance in activities and programs garnered toward building stronger families and communities, including coaching youth sports programs.
200 Alliance Blvd., Hutto
512-846-2360
www.ymcagwc.org/locations/hutto
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: *Volunteer coaches only
Under age 18 allowed: *Y
*With the presence of a parent or guardian
LifeSteps
The organization works to improve community health and safety by creating programs aimed at preventing substance use disorders as well as offering education and intervention to support long-term recovery.
Sample activities: Volunteers provide assistance with clerical duties and at community events.
2021 N. Mays St., Ste. 500, Round Rock
512-246-9880
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: *Y
*In some cases, with parent supervision
Pflugerville Education Foundation
Independent from Pflugerville ISD, the foundation provides funding, district grants and facilitates educational initiatives to meet the needs of the school district’s academic plans and programs.
Sample activities: Volunteers can sign up to help with the foundation’s annual gala, or donate through a number of avenues.
P.O. Box 773, Pflugerville
512-594-0375
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: N
Under age 18 allowed: Y *Depending on the event
Starry
The nonprofit offers shelter, foster care and family counseling to abused and neglected children.
Sample activities: Volunteers participate in providing meals and child care programs following training. Respite care and foster parents are also needed.
1300 N. Mays St., Round Rock
512-388-8290
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: *Y
*For some events, with parent supervision
Texas Baptist Children’s Home
The home offers temporary housing and resources for unaccompanied children and single-parent families. TBCH aims to provide a stable environment for children and parents as they work toward independent living.
Sample activities: Volunteers donate time through actions such as coordinating a food drive or painting walls in a cottage.
1101 N. Mays St., Round Rock
512-255-3682
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: N
Under age 18 allowed: *Y
*For some events, with parent supervision.
CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Keep Hutto Beautiful Foundation
The nonprofit provides education and resources and helps facilitate green initiatives to help create a more environmentally engaged community.
Sample activities: Volunteers help participate in a range of environmentally centered activities, including beautification projects, sustainability and fundraising as well as marketing and outreach initiatives, among others.
P.O. Box 591, Hutto
512-524-6774
HELP ANIMALS
Pflugerville Animal Welfare Services
Known as PAWS, the nonprofit works to protect the health and safety of pets and homeless animals in Pflugerville.
Sample activities: Volunteers assist with walking dogs, playing with cats, helping with off-site adoption events and taking photos of animals up for adoption, among other tasks.
1600 Waterbrook Drive, Pflugerville
512-990-6280
www.pflugervilletx.gov/city-government/animal-welfare-services
Pflugerville Pets Alive
The organization is a volunteer and foster-based pet rescue program in Central Texas that aims to find homes for animals, raise money and promote community awareness surrounding animal welfare issues. PPA does not have its own facility.
Sample activities: Volunteers assist with PPA events and handle animals included in PPA’s program.
512-900-1772
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: N
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y
HELP THE COMMUNITY
Celebration of Love
The volunteer-driven organization provides food and resources for military men and women, along with their families.
Sample activities: Volunteers provide food, bikes and toys to families during the holiday season.
15630 Vision Drive, Ste. A, Pflugerville
512-251-4800
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: N
Under age 18 allowed: Y
CHASCO Family YMCA
The organization offers an array of programs and services for its members, including child care, youth arts and cooking programs, youth sports, adult exercise classes, and swimming and aquatic programs.
Sample activities: Volunteers provide a variety of assistance in activities and programs garnered toward building stronger families and communities, including coaching youth sports programs.
1812 N. Mays St., Round Rock
512-615-5511
www.ymcagwc.org/locations/round-rock
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y
Circle of Hope Community Center
The organization provides tools and resources to community members by running its food pantry and assisting low-income families with school supplies, clothes and Christmas gifts as well as aiding families transitioning from homelessness to temporary or permanent housing by providing furniture, appliances, hardware and personal items.
Sample activities: Volunteers help with traffic control, filling boxes with food, placing boxes into cars, sorting donations
2900 W. Pecan St., Pflugerville
512-692-8001
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: N
Orientation: N
Under age 18 allowed: Y
Hutto Resource Center
The center provides tools and resources to enhance the well-being of residents within its community as well as promotes independence and financial self-sufficiency. A significant component of the center’s focus is its community food pantry, a volunteer-driven operation that serves between 70-85 families each week.
Sample activities: Volunteer to help at the center or provide donations.
350 Ed Schmidt Blvd., Hutto
512-688-0176
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y/N?
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y*
*Under 15 must have parent/guardian present
Round Rock Area Serving Center
The center serves families in Round Rock and surrounding communities by providing financial assistance for necessities, such as rent, utilities and transportation, among others. RRASC also operates a food pantry, a thrift store and social work case management.
Sample activities: Volunteers assist in picking up and sorting through donations, restocking the pantry, unloading trucks and completing data entries.
1099 E. Main St., Round Rock
512-244-2431
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y
SUPPORT HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Breast Cancer Resource Center
The center has offices in both Austin and Round Rock and provides education and assistance to local women battling breast cancer.
Sample activities: volunteer opportunities include taking and making calls to clients, delivering vital resources to their doorsteps and volunteering at fundraising events.
306 E. Main St., Ste. 101, Round Rock
512-248-2645
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: N
Orientation: *Y
Under age 18 allowed: N
*Some activities may require some form of orientation
Senior Access
The nonprofit connects volunteer drivers with seniors needing a way to get around and focuses on low-income areas and seniors who cannot afford transportation.
Sample activities: Volunteers assist adults 60 years of age and older by providing transportation, home repairs, yard work and companionship to those in need in the Round Rock, Pflugerville, Hutto and East Austin communities.
2498 E. Palm Valley Blvd., Round Rock
512-310-1060
Volunteer requirements:
Application: Y
Background check: Y
Orientation: Y
Under age 18 allowed: Y
