Food & Basic Needs
Getting meals and essentials to families who need them.
10,000 Lunches
A youth-powered nonprofit where middle schoolers make and pack lunches every week for people experiencing homelessness, empowering kids to help fight hunger in their own community.
Monument Crisis Center
Based in Concord's Monument Corridor, this center provides free groceries, diapers, clothing, and family-support services to low-income households in central Contra Costa County.
White Pony Express
An all-volunteer food rescue based in Contra Costa County. WPE picks up surplus fresh food from grocers, farms, and restaurants and delivers it — usually within hours — to nonprofits feeding the hungry, and also runs free clothing and toy distributions.
Education & Youth
Books, backpacks, blankets, and mentors for kids.
Aspire Education Project
An Oakland-based nonprofit (founded 2005) that provides subsidized and free tutoring, in-class support, and SAT/ACT prep to historically underserved Bay Area students, partnering with local schools and other nonprofits to close the achievement gap.
Orinda Network for Education (ONE)
An educational foundation that fundraises to close the gap between state school funding and the true cost of excellence in Orinda's six public schools — supporting teachers, class-size reduction, STEAM labs, art, music, libraries, and student wellness.
Project Linus — Diablo Valley Chapter
Part of the national Project Linus network, volunteers make and donate handmade blankets to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. The Diablo Valley chapter serves Contra Costa County.
Sydney Paige Foundation
A Walnut Creek-based nonprofit that mobilizes businesses and communities to give students high-quality, grade-appropriate backpacks and school supplies — helping kids stay engaged in school and building confidence and self-worth along the way.
Health & Therapeutic Services
Meals, medical support, and healing through movement and community.
East Bay Sea Serpents
A volunteer-run swim team affiliated with Special Olympics Northern California, based out of Lafayette and Walnut Creek. EBSS offers fitness, social connection, and swim instruction to athletes with special needs, ages 6 to 106.
GLIDE
Based in San Francisco's Tenderloin, GLIDE serves free daily meals and offers recovery, housing, and social-justice programs for the city's most vulnerable residents — a legacy of Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani.
J.F. Kapnek Trust
Based in Lafayette, CA, this trust funds preschools-turned-child-health-centers, HIV prevention, and disability/rehabilitation services (including refurbished wheelchairs) for vulnerable children across Zimbabwe.
Special Olympics Northern California
Provides year-round sports training and competition — from track and field to swimming — for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, including regular events across Contra Costa County.
Xenophon Therapeutic Riding Center
Based in Orinda, Xenophon offers therapeutic horseback riding and hippotherapy — with a licensed PT and OT on staff — to children and adults with physical and developmental disabilities, building strength, balance, and confidence.
Seniors & Caregiving
Helping older neighbors stay independent, comfortable, and connected.
Lamorinda Adult Respite Center (LARC)
A licensed, supervised social adult day program in Orinda serving people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's or related dementia since 1997 — offering a warm, engaging weekday environment for participants and worry-free respite for their caregivers.
Lamorinda Village
A volunteer-powered "village" network for residents 55+ in Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda — offering rides, home help, referrals, and social events so members can keep living independently at home.
Moraga Royale
An assisted living and memory care community in Moraga; volunteer visits and activities with residents help support the social and emotional well-being of older adults living there.
Operation: Care and Comfort
A Bay Area nonprofit (serving since 2003) that organizes individuals, groups, and companies to assemble and ship personalized care packages to deployed U.S. service members and veterans, offering essential items and a reminder they're not forgotten.
Land & Animals
Protecting open space, waterways, and the creatures who share them.
Hugs for Harry
A Lafayette-based nonprofit rescue and sanctuary that specializes in small, senior, and medically fragile dogs who are often overlooked elsewhere. Dogs live cage-free in thoughtfully matched playgroups rather than kennels, with some staying in permanent sanctuary care.
John Muir Land Trust
Based in Martinez, JMLT has permanently protected more than 3,500 acres of open space, ranches, and shoreline across Contra Costa and Alameda counties, including Pacheco Marsh and Wagner Ranch Nature Area in Orinda.
Lindsay Wildlife Experience
A Walnut Creek museum and wildlife hospital that rehabilitates injured, sick, and orphaned native wildlife and offers hands-on exhibits and nature education for all ages.
San Pablo Creek Restoration
A restoration project of Friends of Orinda Creeks, working to conserve, restore, and educate the public about San Pablo Creek and its watershed — which flows through Orinda into the San Pablo Reservoir and eventually San Francisco Bay.
Civic & Community
Keeping Orinda's neighborhoods connected and cared for.
Orinda Association
Entering its 80th year, this civic nonprofit maintains and improves quality of life in Orinda — running the Seniors Around Town driving program, the 4th of July parade, the Classic Car Show, community forums, and The Orinda News.