Become a Volunteer - Join a Community Project
TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES ONE LIFE AT A TIME
Every YMCA volunteer matters. Volunteering with the Y doesn’t just make the lives of others better, it changes yours, too. When you volunteer, you discover a sense of belonging as you work alongside others for a common cause. The Y is more than a gym or a fitness center or meeting space - we are a community that transforms lives.
- Volunteer FAQ’s, handbook, and how-to documents >>
- For more information contact: volunteers@ymcacharlotte.org
- If you are already registered to be a volunteer, click here to log in
Volunteer Projects
Morrison YMCA Y Kids Child Care Programs
Volunteers will assist the staff with engaging the participants in the activities taking place during the program. This curriculum can include (but not limited to) arts/crafts, storytime, games, etc.
Brace Family YMCA Y Kids Child Care Programs
Volunteers will assist the staff with engaging the participants in the activities taking place during the program. This curriculum can include (but not limited to) arts/crafts, storytime, games, etc.
Brace Family YMCA - Preschool, Afterschool, Homeschool, Camp Activities and Events @ Hemby Program Center
Volunteers will assist our Hemby Program staff with multiple of task required to facilitate programs, such as afterschool, homeschool, special events and assisting with Camp Eagle Rock. ***PLEASE NOTE - This program takes place at the Hemby Program Center - 9760 Happy Valley Drive, Charlotte, NC 28270
Morrison YMCA Afterschool Program
Join our Volunteer program as an After School Ally and make a difference! As a volunteer, you'll be part of our vibrant afterschool program, filled with activities like homework help, visual arts, games, and sports. Whether you're guiding students through their assignments or joining in on a game, you'll be a positive role model for our participants. This is a fantastic opportunity to have fun, share your knowledge, and take on an important role in shaping young minds. Get ready to inspire and be inspired!
Harris YMCA - Y Kids Child Care Program
Volunteers will assist with our various childcare programs such as preschool, drop-in childcare, etc.
Morrison YMCA Preschool & Preschool Camps
Volunteers will assist our preschool programs with integrating purposeful and intentionally planned activities that are designed to be fun and engaging while teaching children valuable skills.
Stratford Richardson - YMCA Community Activities
Sign up to volunteer at our Stratford Richardson YMCA with community activities & events such as our Back-to-School Pep Rally, Fall Festivals, Healthy Kids Day, School Dances and more.
Lake Norman YMCA Community Events
Sign up to volunteer at our various community events such as our Polar Plunge, 5k runs and more. Event volunteers typically help with activities such as setup and breakdown, running games & activities and helping with registration. Event volunteers will receive an email the week prior to the event with all the details they will need to know for the day of.
Keith Family YMCA Miracle League Volunteers
Our YMCA Miracle League volunteers will help in a variety of ways on game days! We need volunteers to help coach, serve as a buddy for the YMCA Miracle League teams, work concessions, help announce the game and greeters. Coaches will guide teams to success by teaching participants baseball game-play, helping enhance their social skills and instill confidence in their abilities. Player buddies will assist team members on field and during game play.
Stratford Richardson YMCA Sports Volunteering
Volunteer to teach our young athletes how to play and enjoy a sport at the YMCA!
Harris YMCA Krueger Reindeer Romp
The Harris YMCA Krueger Reindeer Romp is the second longest tenured community-building athletic event in the SouthPark area. The Y’s signature event is a family friendly race that promotes fun, healthy living and is a favorite holiday tradition. Volunteers are needed in a variety of capacities.
Corporate Cup 5K & Half Marathon Volunteering
Make your footprints count and join us for Charlotte’s oldest road race, the 46th Annual Corporate Cup 5K, Relay Half Marathon, Half Marathon, & Fun Run! Kicking off the YMCA Race Series for 2024, this fundraiser is the YMCA of Greater Charlotte’s largest road race with almost 2,500 runners in 2024. With the community’s support, the race raises funds for the Y’s Better Us Campaign, enabling the Y to offer programs and services that nurture the potential of kids and teens, promote healthy living, foster a sense of social responsibility and strengthen the foundations of community. The race starts and finishes at Truist Field in Uptown Charlotte and is perfect for runners and walkers of all levels – beginner to expert – with a 5K, half marathon, half marathon relay and a fun run. Celebrate the race with a post-race party at the finish line with music, free snacks and vendors. Sign up to volunteer below or sign up to run online at: https://corporatecup.raceroster.com/
Brace Family YMCA - Y Scholars Volunteers
Formerly known as Homeschool, YScholars provides a unique learning experience for all. Supplemental learning opportunities for homeschooled students include challenging core academic courses, invigorating physical education classes, and engaging enrichment options. Investigate YScholar programs at select branches to find the best fit for your child’s homeschool education. We are seeking volunteers to help us in our YScholar classrooms to aid teachers with activities and learning lessons. Below you can sign up for the location you wish to volunteer in.
Harris YMCA - Preschool & Preschool Camps
Volunteers will assist our preschool programs with integrating purposeful and intentionally planned activities that are designed to be fun and engaging while teaching children valuable skills. Volunteers should go down to the Cato Education Center and report to the Preschool Office.
Johnston YMCA Community Activities
The Johnston YMCA holds community events periodically to uplift and support the community. Come volunteer for a variety of events such as Healthy Kids Day, our Fall Festival and our Christmas tree lighting!
Y Readers Event Volunteers
The Y Readers program is an intervention program designed to help students in K-3 who are reading below grade level. One of the best ways to increase reading skills is for children to have continuous practice reading. To encourage this, Y Readers is challenging its students to read 25 books from October 24-December 5. Students who meet the reading goal get the opportunity to ‘shop’ in our Reading Log Rumble store on Thursday, December 12. The Reading Log Rumble store will be a part of the Winter Celebration at Y Readers sites. The Winter Celebration is a time of fun games and activities so we need your help! As a volunteer for this event, you’ll get to: - be assigned to a classroom and help with the Winter Celebration games. - help students who meet the Reading Log Rumble goal of reading 25 books select 10 items from the Y Readers Reading Log Rumble store (all items are free to the students so there’s no money involved). - assist Y Readers staff with clean-up at the event as needed. Important: Volunteers are needed from 3:00pm - 5:00pm for all of our locations with the exception of Renaissance West STEAM Academy. The volunteer time for Renaissance West will be 3:30pm - 5:15pm. Prior to volunteers helping in the store, our site leader will lead a brief training presentation onsite. Also, many of our schools will be in the midst of car rider dismissal when you arrive, so plan accordingly. For more info, or to sign up to support, please contact Erica Lee at erica.lee@ymcacharlotte.org.
Morrison YMCA - Volunteer Interest
New volunteers interested in signing up for volunteer opportunities at the Morrison YMCA will sign up to attend an In-Person Volunteer Orientation. Below is a brief breakdown of the process you should expect as you sign up to Volunteer for the Morrison Family YMCA: - On your Volunteer Matters account, you may be prompted to complete a few of the requirements that we have for our program Volunteers. Please make sure these are completed. - At this In-Person Volunteer Orientation we will: read and review over the Volunteer Handbook, Check-In document, and Volunteer Orientation Guide, take a Branch Tour and receive your Volunteer T-Shirt. When you arrive, please come into the Main entrance to get started with the Branch Tour. If you have any questions, please contact morrisonvolunteers@ymcacharlotte.org. We look forward to having you share your talents at our Y!
YMCA of Greater Charlotte Sports - North Region (Lake Norman & Lowe's)
The YMCA North Region Sports project will encompass the following YMCA Branches: Lake Norman and Lowe's Volunteers are an integral part of the YMCA Youth Sports Program. To be frank – we can’t do it without you! From coaching to team communication and coordination, we need people just like you to help us teach sportsmanship, teamwork and game fundamentals. Not feeling like an expert in your child’s favorite sport? No problem at all! We’ve done this for over 150 years and have tons of resources to share with you to help you feel more comfortable. This commitment is roughly two hours a week and includes a one hour practice during the week in the evening and a one hour game on Saturday's. The season will last for 10 weeks and include 8 games. If you are interested in coaching this coming season for our North Region, please select the position you wish to coach below. Your profile page will be updated with any requirements you need to complete. Once all items are completed, our Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch with the next steps. We try to accommodate our coach’s schedules as best as possible when determining practices days/times based on your preferences.
YMCA of Greater Charlotte Sports - Central South Region (Dowd, Harris & Johnston)
The YMCA Central South Region Sports project will encompass the following YMCA Branches: Dowd, Harris and Johnston Volunteers are an integral part of the YMCA Youth Sports Program. To be frank – we can’t do it without you! From coaching to team communication and coordination, we need people just like you to help us teach sportsmanship, teamwork and game fundamentals. Not feeling like an expert in your child’s favorite sport? No problem at all! We’ve done this for over 150 years and have tons of resources to share with you to help you feel more comfortable. This commitment is roughly two hours a week and includes a one hour practice during the week in the evening and a one hour game on Saturday's. The season will last for 10 weeks and include 8 games. If you are interested in coaching this Fall for our South Central Region, please select the position you wish to coach below. Your profile page will be updated with any requirements you need to complete. Once all items are completed, our Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch with the next steps. We try to accommodate our coach’s schedules as best as possible when determining practices days/times based on your preferences.
YMCA of Greater Charlotte Sports - South Region (Brace, Morrison & Steele Creek)
The YMCA South Region Sports project will encompass the following YMCA Branches: Brace, Morrison, Steele Creek Volunteers are an integral part of the YMCA Youth Sports Program. To be frank – we can’t do it without you! From coaching to team communication and coordination, we need people just like you to help us teach sportsmanship, teamwork and game fundamentals. Not feeling like an expert in your child’s favorite sport? No problem at all! We’ve done this for over 150 years and have tons of resources to share with you to help you feel more comfortable. This commitment is roughly two hours a week and includes a one hour practice during the week in the evening and a one hour game on Saturday's. The season will last for 10 weeks and include 8 games. If you are interested in coaching this Fall for our South Region, please select the position you wish to coach below. Your profile page will be updated with any requirements you need to complete. Once all items are completed, our Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch with the next steps. We try to accommodate our coach’s schedules as best as possible when determining practices days/times based on your preferences.
YMCA of Greater Charlotte Food Shares
The YMCA of Greater Charlotte has partnered with Nourish Up in Charlotte to help distribute food to our communities in need. Our Food Shares occur during the week at some of our local branches and involve taking the large amounts of donated food, breaking them up into individual boxes and then passing them out to cars as they drive through the line. These opportunities are perfect for groups of 15 or less and make a great team building activity. If you have a group that wishes to come out as a team, let us know by emailing us at volunteer@ymcacharlotte.org.
YMCA of Greater Charlotte Sports - Central North Region (Keith, McCrorey, Simmons & Stratford Richardson)
The YMCA Central North Region Sports project will encompass the following YMCA Branches: Keith, McCrorey, Simmons & Stratford Richardson. Volunteers are an integral part of the YMCA Youth Sports Program. To be frank – we can’t do it without you! From coaching to team communication and coordination, we need people just like you to help us teach sportsmanship, teamwork and game fundamentals. Not feeling like an expert in your child’s favorite sport? No problem at all! We’ve done this for over 150 years and have tons of resources to share with you to help you feel more comfortable. This commitment is roughly two hours a week and includes a one hour practice during the week in the evening and a one hour game on Saturday's. The season will last for 10 weeks and include 8 games. If you are interested in coaching this upcoming season for our Central North Region, please select the position you wish to coach below. Your profile page will be updated with any requirements you need to complete. Once all items are completed, our Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch with the next steps. We try to accommodate our coach’s schedules as best as possible when determining practices days/times based on your preferences.
Keith Family YMCA - Adaptive Programs
Our Keith YMCA is looking for volunteers to help in our Adaptive Programs such as Basketball, Cheerleading, Dance and Swimming. These programs serve individuals with disabilities and offer them inclusive ways of getting involved in programs.
McCrorey YMCA - Best Buy Teen Tech Center Volunteer
The Best Buy Teen Tech Center will be open to teens 13-18 during after school hours. Volunteers will help teens use various technology, design and complete projects and have fun while learning! The BBTTC is equipped with a full sound studio, 3-D printers, professional grade cameras an editing equipment. This opportunity will be located at the McCrorey YMCA in the new Best Buy Teen Center. As a volunteer at the Best Buy Teen Tech Center, you will play a crucial role in fostering an engaging and supportive environment for teenagers to explore technology, develop digital skills, and unleash their creativity. You will work closely with Teen Tech Center staff to assist in various activities and programs aimed at empowering young people through technology.
Harris YMCA - ESL Volunteer
The Harris YMCA offers English as a Second Language classes to immigrants and newcomers from our community three times per week, September to June. The program seeks to support the acculturation of the students and build community, while providing participants with the opportunity to grow their English language skills in a safe and fun environment Ways to volunteer: OCCASIONALLY: Registration assistance *Welcome & guide new students through the registration process *Speaking or understanding Spanish is helpful, but not required *Available 1-4 times (for a 3-hour shift/am or pm) in these months: March, August and December. *Fall 2024 dates: August 13-14, 2024 (9am-12pm and/or 6-9pm) *Winter 2025 dates: December 11-12, 2024 (9am-12pm and/or 6-9pm) WEEKLY: Dual-Language Conversation Group Facilitator *Bilingual in English and Spanish *Interested in those with other backgrounds and experiences *Guide a small group of English and Spanish students, facilitating activities specially created to promote conversation skills and multiculturalism. *Requires 6-week commitment on Wednesdays 6:30-8:30pm * Fall 2024 dates: October 16-November 20 WEEKLY: 1-1/Small Group Tutor *Have strong command of English language *Interested in those with diverse backgrounds and experiences *Guide introductory level students through a study of brief lessons covering Basic English grammar and vocabulary *Requires 6-week commitment on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday from 11:30am-12:30pm or 5:30-6:30pm * Fall 2024 dates: October 16-November 20 **ALL volunteers will work under the guidance of the Harris YMCA Community Development Director and ESL Coordinator. Volunteer training and all materials are provided. ESL Volunteers meet at the Harris YMCA CATO Education Center**
Lake Norman YMCA Volunteer Interest
New volunteers interested in signing up for volunteer opportunities at the Lake Norman YMCA will sign up to attend an In-Person Volunteer Orientation first. Below is a brief breakdown of the process you should expect as you sign up to Volunteer for the Lake Norman YMCA: - Register yourself in Volunteer Matters and select a date you wish to attend your volunteer orientation. When you sign up for your orientation, it will prompt you to complete a few of the requirements that we have for our program Volunteers including Child Abuse Prevention training online and a background screening. Please make sure these are completed before your in-person orientation. - At this In-Person Volunteer Orientation we will: read and review over the Volunteer Handbook, Check-In document, and Volunteer Orientation Guide, take a Branch Tour and hear more about our current opportunities. When you arrive, please check in at the front desk and they will show you where to go for the orientation. - Once volunteers complete the in-person orientation, you will receive an email with links to all our current volunteer projects that you may start signing up for. Our current opportunities include: - Pickleball Coaching - Youth Sports Summer Basketball Coaching - Y Readers Summer Reading Buddies - Y Kids - Afterschool - Summer Camp - Special Events If you have any questions, please contact lakenormanvolunteers@ymcacharlotte.org. We look forward to having you share your talents at our Y!
Camp Thunderbird - Equestrian Barn Volunteer Activities
Volunteers will assist with the daily care of the horses and facility at the Camp Thunderbird Equestrian Program. Volunteer tasks may range from grooming horses, cleaning stalls, assisting feed horses, manure management in paddocks, or care of tack and equipment. It is preferred that volunteers have previous horse experience, but not required.” Must be a minimum of 13 years or older, able to complete physical tasks such as lifting 50lbs, and complete a barn orientation.
Harris YMCA - Adaptive Programs
The YMCA of Greater Charlotte is dedicated to give individuals with diverse abilities the opportunity to learn fundamental water safety and swimming skills in a safe environment. Knowing how to be safe around water is one of the most important life skills we can teach. It promotes confidence and can save lives. The Harris YMCA offers adaptive classes with small group ratios that provide a safe and fun learning experience for individuals with diverse physical and cognitive abilities. Additionally, most branches offer private lessons that provide accommodations and support for the individual swimmer. Volunteers play an important role in this program by helping us in the water with participants.
Morrison YMCA - Marketing & Media Volunteers
Description: Join our team as a Content Creator! This exciting volunteer position is perfect for individuals aged 13 and up who are passionate about social media and photography. As a Content Creator, you’ll have the unique opportunity to capture the vibrant energy and impactful moments happening at the Morrison Family YMCA. Your photos and videos will help showcase our programs in action, highlighting the joy, connection, and community spirit we foster. Volunteers will engage with participants during various activities, ensuring we capture authentic moments that resonate with our audience. Your creative contributions will be essential in promoting our mission and engaging the community through our marketing efforts and social media platforms. If you have an eye for detail and a knack for storytelling through visuals, we want you on our team! Key Responsibilities: Attend programs and events to take photos and videos. Collaborate with staff to understand key moments to capture. Share content that reflects the spirit and values of the Morrison Family YMCA. Help curate and organize media for our marketing and social media channels. Qualifications: Must be at least 13 years old. A strong interest in photography, videography, and social media. Basic knowledge of social media platforms and photo/video editing is a plus. Ability to work independently and creatively. This role is not only a great way to gain experience but also a chance to make a meaningful impact in our community. Sign up today to be a part of our Content Creators team!