Our Mission

The Volunteer Center of Greensboro strengthens our community by creating meaningful volunteer connections. We connect people, promote volunteerism, support nonprofits, and build partnerships.

Our History

The Volunteer Center of Greensboro was founded in 1963 with the establishment of the Greensboro Volunteer Bureau. We were originally a department of the Greensboro Community Council, which later became the United Way.

In 1975, as the Voluntary Action Center of Greensboro, we became an independent United Way agency. One short year later, we were honored as a model center for the entire country – the only nonprofit selected in North Carolina. In 1994, we became known as The Volunteer Center of Greensboro, Inc.

Along with our new name, The Volunteer Center adopted a new logo, mission statement, and programs. Among those is The Human Race, the largest community-wide fundraising event in the county involving more than 150 nonprofits, 40+ businesses, 200+ volunteers race day, and 5,000+ participants. The Human Race has raised more than $3 million since it began in 1993.

The Volunteer Center has since developed other programs including: the nationally recognized Harvest for Teachers, a program to match the corporate community with Guilford County public school teachers, and several youth programs including the summer Service Learning Impacting Citizenship Camp. These programs bring us in contact with over 120 schools in Guilford County each year.

In addition to our diverse programs, The Volunteer Center connects individuals with nonprofits that meet their interests while making a valuable contribution to the organization through volunteering. In 2008 we were in contact with over 28,000 individuals seeking volunteer opportunities.

The Volunteer Center also provides support by helping over 150 nonprofit agencies across the Triad develop and strengthen the effectiveness of their volunteer programs by offering workshops, seminars, and consulting services.