USC Volunteer Center
#ServeOn!
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About the USC Volunteer Center
As part of Campus Activities, the Volunteer Center is dedicated to promoting service within USC, the greater Los Angeles area, and the global community as a whole. The Volunteer Center’s programs are student-run and student-led.
Our Mission
To empower students to be leaders of social change during their time at USC and beyond.
Our Community Service Philosophy
The Volunteer Center’s Service Curriculum educates students on the complexities of ethical volunteering in the community. Our programs build partnerships that support local and sustainable efforts, developing cross cultural awareness and competency, and educate students on ethical dilemmas.
Alternative Breaks
The Alternative Break (AB) program offers exciting opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to get involved with communities outside of USC during Spring Break. Student Coordinators plan and lead domestic or international trips. Trip Coordinator applications will open in March for ASB 2023.
Friends & Neighbors Day
The Friends and Neighbors Day (FND) program hosts a monthly day of service for students and staff to serve the local community. Last year, we sent over 900 students, faculty, staff, and alumni to over 40 organizations around the city to serve with fellow Trojans and together make a positive impact in the community.
SERVE LA 2022
On Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, the USC & UCLA Volunteer Centers collaborated to organize a city-wide service day! New freshmen, transfer students, continuing undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni participated in a wide range of community service projects across Los Angeles.
Trojans Serve
One day of service per month is not enough to meet our communities' needs. Trojans Serve events are hosted 2-3 times per month outside of the fixed Friends and Neighbors Day dates and times. Only 1 service project / organization will be hosted at each event.
Below are a variety of ways that USC Trojans can get involved in service:
- Search for Service-Based Student Organizations on EngageSC,
- Visit Trojan Homelessness Response for USC-affiliated organizations working on homelessness in Los Angeles.
- Search online databases like Volunteer Match for opportunities,
- Subcribe to our Volunteer Newsletter to receive notifications about upcoming events and sponsored programs
- Find opportunities with local nonprofit partners in our calendar below:
Week of Events
Tutor Unhoused Students
Tutor Unhoused Students
School on Wheels matches volunteer tutors with children experiencing homelessness in six Southern California counties. Our tutors work with students for one hour, once a week, providing support at a… Read More »Tutor Unhoused Students
Friends & Neighbors Day
Friends & Neighbors Day
The Friends & Neighbors Day program (FND) is one of our most popular community service programs. This program was born after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots as a way to… Read More »Friends & Neighbors Day
Tutor Unhoused Students
School On Wheels Skid Row Learning Center 600 East 7th Street, Ste 109, Los Angeles, CASchool on Wheels matches volunteer tutors with children experiencing homelessness in six Southern California counties. Our tutors work with students for one hour, once a week, providing support at a… Read More »Tutor Unhoused Students
Friends & Neighbors Day
Steven Kathryn Sample Hall (SKS) 3607 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CAThe Friends & Neighbors Day program (FND) is one of our most popular community service programs. This program was born after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots as a way to… Read More »Friends & Neighbors Day
Reading to Kids Monthly Book Clubs
Alta Loma Elementary School 1745 Vineyard Avenue, Los AngelesReading to Kids is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting childhood education and literacy in the Los Angeles area, particularly within under-resourced communities. Come join us for one of our… Read More »Reading to Kids Monthly Book Clubs
Relay for Life
Relay For Life is one of the largest peer-to-peer fundraising events in the world. For more than 35 years, communities around the globe have come together to raise funds for… Read More »Relay for Life
American Red Cross – Sound the Alarm (group/individual event)
Obregon Park 4021 1st St, Los Angeles, CAOn April 22, 2023, the American Red Cross in East Los Angeles, CA needs your help to install free smoke alarms and help make our community safer. Every day, seven… Read More »American Red Cross – Sound the Alarm (group/individual event)
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California 2023 Walk for Kids event
Rose Bowl Stadium 1001 Rose Bowl Dr, Pasadena, CAWalk for Kids™ is an annual fundraiser to support families receiving comfort, care and support from Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California. At Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California, our… Read More »Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California 2023 Walk for Kids event
Partner With Us
The Volunteer Center works to match students with local nonprofit community partners. If you have a need and a volunteer project, the Volunteer Center can connect you with volunteers to meet your goals! Find out how to host an FND project through our Resources for External Organizations or if you have a project that falls outside of FND, submit a request to have your event posted on our calendar.