Volunteer

General Volunteer Help

You can volunteer for COTS in many ways, and we appreciate all types of skills and areas of expertise. COTS volunteer needs are constantly changing, so if you’d like to stay up-to-date on our volunteer opportunities, we encourage you to fill out our brief volunteer application to keep you on our volunteer list.

Join our general volunteer list

COTS Walk volunteer

The COTS Walk is Sunday, May 5th. We couldn't run this event without you. The fundraising from this event makes it possible to provide our services. We truly appreciate your help. There are a ton of different volunteer opportunities ranging from crossing guards, to data entry, to kids activities, and more. Click the sign up button below to learn more about each position.

More about the Walk...The COTS Walk is one of our oldest and most important peer-to-peer fundraisers. Every year around 2,000 walkers of all ages from businesses, schools, religious organizations, and neighborhoods come together from all over the region to participate. The Walk begins and ends in Battery Park with music, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and fun activities.

This family-friendly event guides Walkers along a 3.6-mile route through downtown Burlington visiting some of the shelters and facilities that COTS operates. At this event, COTS seeks to illustrate the path a person experiencing homelessness might take when utilizing COTS services to educate our community about homelessness in our region.

Volunteer for the Walk


Four COTS volunteers in the shelter kitchen, holding serving trays filled with hot food.

Mental health and well-being support at COTS Family Shelters

Volunteers can be community members or organizations. You can create in-the-moment connections through activities or support families in connecting to resources in the community. If applying to help, please include which of these opportunities you are interested in, and why.

Fill out our application


Afterschool Mentor

Where: COTS Family Shelter, 278 Main Street Burlington, VT

When: Monday-Friday 4 pm to 6 pm (flexible)

Who: Adults 18+, background check needed, experience working with children and youth

What: As an Afterschool Mentor you will work and play with school-age youth in shelter. Youth may want to complete homework or have fun, your job is to follow their lead while being a positive role model. Preparing activities ahead of time is not required and may not be suitable for all youth.

Respite Provider

Where: COTS Family Shelter, 278 Main Street Burlington, VT

When: anytime Monday-Friday 9 am to 9 pm (flexible, based on need)

Who: Adults 18+, background check needed, experience working with infants and young children

What: As a Respite Provider, you will provide short-term respite (up to 2 hours) for 1-2 children living in shelter. Caregivers will remain in shelter and be available to assist when needed during respite. A COTS staff member will be present for support. The family will provide supplies and food as needed for the duration of the respite.

Activity Facilitator 

Where: COTS Family Shelter, 278 Main Street Burlington, VT

When: Monday-Friday 4 pm to 8 pm (flexible) or anytime on the weekends

Who: Adults 18+, background check needed, experience working in education or mental health

What: As an Activity Facilitator, you will prepare and facilitate a short activity (up to 2 hours) for our families in shelter. Possible activities include arts and crafts for all ages, social and emotional learning for youth, and much more! Ideal activities will promote mental health and well-being, child development, and social connection.

Provide Daystation Guests With Lunch

Our largest ongoing need is for volunteers to provide lunch for our Daystation guests. We serve lunch 365 days a year, seven days a week. Volunteers provide ingredients, prep, and serve meals. To learn more about what you need to prepare or to sign up, view all the information below.

If you have any questions about volunteering, organizing a drive, or putting on your own event for COTS, email our Community Outreach Specialist at romyt@cotsonline.org.

Sign up to provide Daystation lunch

Daily Lunch

Help us provide lunch to guests visiting the Daystation, COTS’s daytime drop-in shelter for adults, open 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

The Daystation is located at 95 North Avenue in Burlington. You will see a gate that says welcome in different languages, enter through there.

This is a great service opportunity or team-building activity. There is staff on-site to help you navigate prepping and/or serving lunch.

  • We request meals be well-balanced.
  • It's nice to have a vegetarian option and a meat option.

Lunch Examples

  • Pasta with a vegetable sauce option and a meat sauce option, a green salad, and chocolate chip cookies.
  • Chicken and vegetarian burrito bowls, sautéed bell peppers and mushrooms, tortilla chips, sour cream, guacamole, and sugar cookies.
  • Variety of sandwiches (turkey, ham, roast beef, veggie meat), lettuce, tomato, banana peppers, pickles for guests to add to their sandwiches, watermelon, lemonade, a green salad, and brownies.
  • Marinated chicken thighs and marinated mushrooms, bean salad, pasta salad, and strawberry short cake.
  • Vegetarian chili, tortillas, bottled water, corn bread, and cookies.
  • Meat and veggie lasagna, homemade bread sticks, green salad, brownies.

Prepping and Serving

Volunteers must be 18 years old to serve lunch. Families or groups with children can prepare the meal offsite and drop it off for our staff to serve.

Volunteers older than age 18 may use our kitchen to heat up or assemble meals to serve to Daystation guests. We recommend bringing no more than 8 people from your group because of limitations with space.

You can also do a cook out on our patio using our grill! Just be sure to mention this when you sign up below.

Treat the Daystation to Lunch

Not a cook but still want to take the Daystation to lunch?

  • Let our Cookies for Good partner, Sugarsnap Catering, whip up a delicious meal for our Daystation guests. The entree will be a hot seasonal dish (such as roasted turkey, potatoes, and green beans) accompanied by salad and a dessert. To order, call Sugarsnap Catering at 802-861-2951.
  • Ordering a pizza from a local pizzeria or other similar to-go dishes is so appreciated too - just be sure to use the form below to sign up.

Lunch FAQs

Lunch Calendar