Get Involved: Off Campus

Volunteer (updated Spring 2025)

The SEC strongly believes in taking initiative in the community. Volunteering off campus is an excellent way of supporting the environment and the Asheville community as a whole. See below for several local companies and organizations to help you get started!

Burton Street Peace Gardens and Market

The Burton Street Peace Gardens and Market, located in the historic Burton Street Community in West Asheville, are a cultivation of gardens, art, and community. Here, you can find beds of vegetable gardens, multiple art installations, a community center, a maker space, and more.

Volunteer at their weekly garden workdays!

Additionally, the history of the Burton Street Community and how the Peace Gardens and Market came to be can be found through the Hood Huggers International guided tours! It’s a great opportunity to learn about the history of a neighborhood so close to UNCA’s campus!

RiverLink

RiverLink is a regional non-profit promoting the vitality of the French Broad River and its watershed. Their mission is to connect communities to their watershed while improving stream health and resilience, conserving water quality, and restoring damaged streams.

RiverLink hosts multiple volunteer events throughout the year, all beginner-level and open for anyone with the desire to help our local rivers!

Bounty and Soul

Bounty and Soul is a community-driven organization committed to sharing and celebrating fresh meals and produce with the community.

With a variety of opportunities to engage with the community–from cooking, gardening, sorting produce, to community outreach–get involved with Bounty and Soul!

MountainTrue

MountainTrue aims to protect and preserve our natural land, water, and air resources through education and public participation in policy decisions at all levels of business and government. Task Forces include: Mountain Lands Conservation, Forest Management, Public Parks, DENR Enforcement, and Mountain Clean Air. 

There are a variety of events and programs available throughout WNC including live staking, river clean-ups, water quality monitoring, and more. Additionally, they have a volunteer form for general volunteer updates and information. Join MountainTrue to help protect and preserve our natural land, water and air resources!

Hands On Asheville-Buncombe

Hands On Asheville-Buncombe, the volunteer center of United Way, makes it easy to lend a helping hand to your community through Asheville non-profit organizations. Use this resource to find a wide list of opportunities.

To highlight a few of the opportunities Hands On Asheville has to offer:

Haywood Street Congregation meal prep: Tuesdays from 10am – 2 pm.

Food distribution with UNETE: Tuesdays from 10:00am – 1:00pm and 2:00pm – 5:00pm.

Big Ivy Community Center food pantry: Wednesdays – Friday from 10:30am – 4pm with lunch provided!

Bee City Asheville

Bee City Asheville wants our city to take action in sustaining our pollinators by increasing the number of native plants and reducing pesticide usage.

They have a variety of fun pollinator events, from family-friendly programs to pollinator workshops, in the Asheville area. Their leadership committee meets on the 1st Monday of each month from 5:30 – 7:00.

Asheville GreenWorks

Asheville GreenWorks, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, is a volunteer-based organization working to achieve a Clean and Green Asheville and Buncombe County through community organizing, educating and environmental stewardship.

Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy

The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy is one of the country’s oldest and most respected land trusts. They have protected thousands of plant and animal habitats, farmland, and clean waterways in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.

Volunteer with SAHC at their community farm, with habitat management, or helping out with community engagement!

Dogwood Alliance

Dogwood Alliance brings together the voices of thousands of individuals, local and regional grassroots partners, and national and international organizations. They create powerful leverage on companies whose practices destroy millions of acres of Southern forests every year.

Fill out their volunteer questionnaire for more opportunities! You may also email info@dogwoodalliance.org for more information.

Bountiful Cities

Bountiful Cities is dedicated to teaching sustainable agricultural skills and promoting community resilience in Asheville. With a variety of programs–FEAST Cooking and Gardening Education, Community Garden Network, Collaborative Apprenticeship Program, and Asheville Buncombe Food Policy Council–there is something for everyone to learn with Bountiful Cities.

Look more into their programs or fill out their volunteer questionnaire for more opportunities!

Appalachian Voices

Appalachian Voices needs your help fighting for clean air, promoting sustainable forestry and ending mountaintop removal in central and southern Appalachia. Volunteers and interns are always welcomed and needed!