Whatcom Volunteer Center has served as the “Heart and Hands” of the community for over 35 years by channeling the goodwill and talent of volunteers of all ages into 350 nonprofits, schools, government, and healthcare organizations to meet community needs.

Our Mission

The mission of the Whatcom Volunteer Center is to be at the core of participation and service by promoting and supporting effective service in order to improve community.

For agencies needing to stretch limited resources, Whatcom Volunteer Center provides one-stop access to a wide pool of volunteer talent without increasing their expenses.

Annually, the Center helps to generate over 250,000 hours donated to make this a better community for all of us. That translates into over $5 million worth of donated human resources! (This figure is based on the average hourly wage for non-agricultural workers listed in the Economic Report of the President with 12% estimated fringe benefits added. The value of a volunteer was set at $20.25 per hour in 2008. Figures published by Independent Sector.

For volunteers, the Volunteer Center refers volunteers to partner agencies and maintains a database of nearly 5000 enrolled volunteers’ skills and interests. Currently, volunteers include plumbers, teachers, students, refinery workers, bankers, bus drivers, lawyers, doctors and computer experts who range in age from 6 to 98. Volunteers find out about opportunities to participate through the WVC website, listings in local publications, WVC’s Community Volunteer Opportunities publication (available at various locations in the community), and e-mail “hot sheets”  that come out every couple of weeks and the WVC Facebook page which also highlights volunteer activities.