Volunteer for Your Park

Volunteers are essential to the health, cleanliness and vitality of the City’s parks. Philadelphia’s beautiful public spaces are enjoyed on a daily basis by thousands of city residents and visitors alike. High level of usage and the large number of parks creates a challenge when it comes to keeping the city’s parks “Safe, Clean and Ready to Use”-- which is why we need your help!

If you would like to volunteer in a neighborhood park, check our list of Friends groups with websites to see if your park has an active group and reach out to them directly. If you don’t see your park listed, please contact Barb McCabe, Director of Stewardship, at 215-683-3679.

If you’re a corporate entity looking for an individualized volunteer experience for your employees in a watershed park, please contact Jeannette Arthur at the Fairmount Park Conservancy at 215-988-9334.

If you’re a non-corporate group of volunteers looking to get involved, please contact Barb McCabe, Director of Stewardship, at 215-683-3679.

Volunteer with Recreation Centers and Other Facilities

Recreation Centers offer a variety of safe, structured activities for youth during out-of-school time, including sports, arts, and homework help. Volunteers can contribute many skills and talents to support programming according to centers’ needs. If you would like to assist with an afterschool program, sports club or summer camp at a Recreation Center, please contact staff at the facility using the Find-A-Facility page.

In order to volunteer for an on-going position at a playground or recreation center, you must receive background clearances. You may apply for an electronic background check here. A self-pay fee of $8.50 is required. On that site, you may also see what long-term volunteer positions are currently available at recreation facilities.