Volunteer Houston features a variety of local volunteer opportunities in the community.

Assist at food pantry: Fight hunger by sorting and packing groceries for a food pantry operated by a faith-based social service agency in Humble. The work is easy, doesn’t require a great deal of brawn, and would take place during the morning or early afternoon on your choice of weekdays. Time commitments can be flexible.

Check on the elderly: Brighten a elderly shut-in’s day and help insure his or her well-being. As a volunteer for a United Way agency, participants are assigned an elderly person to call for a brief chat at an agreed upon time during the daytime or evening. If the phone friend can’t answer the call, the sponsoring agency will send someone to the home to determine if an emergency exists.

Work with pets: A pet adoption station in Kingwood that finds new homes for dogs needs volunteers. Each Saturday, weather permitting, an animal welfare agency operates the station in the parking lot of a local church. Volunteers help with grooming and walking the animals, showing them off to persons interested in adoption, cleaning cages, and setting up and breaking down equipment.

For more information about the following volunteer opportunities, please call Volunteer Houston at 713-965-0031, Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Additional opportunities can be found at www.volunteerhouston.org.