The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach

What The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach does

The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Torrance, California, founded in the 1960s, operating across southwestern Los Angeles County. The organization functions as a community-services intermediary that mobilizes individual and group volunteers, coordinates court-referred community service placements, and delivers direct-service programs addressing food insecurity, educational inequality, youth wellness, and restorative justice. Its core programs include Food for Kids (weekend meal provision), Operation Teddy Bear (educational supplies for under-resourced first-graders), Impact Makers (youth development and life skills), Court-Referred Community Service (alternative sentencing placements across LA County Superior Court jurisdictions), and Empathy in Action (corporate team-building service experiences). The Volunteer Center also convenes the SPA 8 Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force, a cross-sector coalition of 30+ organizations coordinated with the LA County Department of Mental Health.

The underlying operating platform is a volunteer management and community service coordination system, accessed via volcenter.org and a self-serve volunteer portal at volunteer.volcenter.org, with no disclosed proprietary technology components. Distribution is achieved through nine physical offices spanning Torrance, Long Beach, Bellflower, LAX/Inglewood, Lancaster, San Fernando, Van Nuys, Metro/Hill Street, and Temple Street, anchored by referral relationships with eight major school districts and seven LA County Superior Court locations.

The business model is donation- and grant-funded rather than commercially priced. Revenue streams consist of individual and corporate donations, foundation and government grants (notably LA County DMH/CalMHSA funding for the SPA 8 Task Force), event revenue from the Heart to Heart Gala, and minor pantry transaction fees. Beneficiary services are provided free of charge. Customer segments are non-paying and include individual volunteers, corporate groups seeking CSR/team-building experiences, court-referred community members fulfilling alternative sentencing, food-insecure families, and youth across the partner school districts. Financial figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach

Legal name

The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach

Website

https://volcenter.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that mobilizes volunteers and delivers direct-service programs addressing food insecurity, educational inequality, youth wellness, and court-referred community service across southwestern Los Angeles County, anchored by partnerships with eight school districts and LA County Superior Court.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Torrance

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations: Individual and corporate donations from supporters
2. Event Revenue: Revenue from fundraising events such as the Heart to Heart Gala
3. Pantry Sales: Sale of food items through the food pantry

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that mobilizes individual and group volunteers to deliver community programs addressing food insecurity (Food for Kids), educational inequality (Operation Teddy Bear), youth wellness (Impact Makers), and restorative justice (Court-Referred Community Service). It operates across southwestern Los Angeles County through multiple regional offices, partnering with schools, courts, and corporations to place volunteers and deliver direct services to families and youth.

Product overview

The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach operates as a single, unified nonprofit service offering focused on mobilizing volunteers and addressing community needs. The organization offers multiple programs that work together under an 'umbrella of care' model: Food for Kids provides weekend meals; Operation Teddy Bear supplies educational resources; Impact Makers builds youth life skills; Court-Referred Community Service manages alternative sentencing; and Empathy in Action facilitates team-building volunteer experiences. The SPA 8 Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force coordinates regional mental health efforts. All programs share a common mission of addressing food insecurity, education inequality, youth wellness, and restorative justice.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Food for Kids: Weekend meal program providing food-insecure children with healthy meals
• Impact Makers – Building Skills for Life
• Operation Teddy Bear
• Court-Referred Community Service (CRCS)
• Empathy in Action
• SPA 8 Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force

Products and services

• Food for Kids
• Operation Teddy Bear An educational equity program targeting under-resourced first-graders at high-poverty elementary schools by providing books, materials, and tools needed for learning.
• Impact Makers – Building Skills for Life A youth development program that helps young people gain deeper understanding of themselves and the world through social and emotional wellness activities and life skills building.
• Court-Referred Community Service (CRCS) An alternative sentencing program that matches court-referred individuals with nonprofit organizations for community service, including empathy-building experiences like the Hospital and Morgue (HAM) program and MADD Victim Impact Panels.
• Empathy in Action Team-building volunteer experiences for families, organizations, and groups that include hands-on service activities at the Volunteer Center facility, designed to build connections and understanding of community needs.
• SPA 8 Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force A cross-sector coalition coordinated by the Volunteer Center, bringing together over 30 local organizations to address youth mental health crisis through education, resource sharing, and collaborative prevention initiatives in Los Angeles County's Service Planning Area 8.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,000 weekend meals provided to families
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Los Angeles County Department of Mental HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Grant funding through Prevention and Early Intervention funding in collaboration with CalMHSA. Supports the SPA 8 Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force co-founded by the Volunteer Center.
• CalMHSAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Statewide mental health initiative collaborating on youth suicide prevention efforts through the SPA 8 Task Force.
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Greater Los Angeles & Central CoastcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Key collaborator on SPA 8 Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force. Aligned with Project 2025 initiative to reduce suicide rates 20% by 2025.
• Compton Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner school district for Operation Teddy Bear program targeting high-poverty schools with 75%+ free/reduced lunch eligibility.
• Long Beach Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner school district for Operation Teddy Bear program.
• Los Angeles Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner school district for Operation Teddy Bear program.
• Torrance Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner school district for Operation Teddy Bear program (two schools).
• Adams MastrovichminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsor of the Volunteer Center, listed among valued sponsors.
• Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of SPA 8 Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force, providing healthcare perspective on youth mental health.
• Torrance Memorial Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey collaborator on SPA 8 Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force.
• Didi Hirsch Mental Health ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTask Force member providing mental health expertise and resources.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) South BaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTask Force member providing mental health advocacy and education.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Food Forward: Southern California food rescue and redistribution nonprofit; comparable as a regional food insecurity operator addressing overlapping hunger-relief needs with a volunteer-driven model similar to Food for Kids.

Direct peers

• VolunteerMatch: National online platform connecting volunteers with nonprofit opportunities; directly comparable as a volunteer mobilization infrastructure provider serving overlapping use cases (individual and corporate volunteer matching).
• Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services: LA County mental health nonprofit and SPA 8 Task Force member; comparable as a co-partner on the youth suicide prevention coalition and a peer for mental health-related program funding and donor pools.
• United Way of Greater Los Angeles: Regional multi-program nonprofit addressing poverty, education, and housing across LA County; comparable as a similarly scoped community umbrella organization mobilizing volunteers, corporate partners, and county-level funding in the same geography.
• Los Angeles Regional Food Bank: Regional food distribution nonprofit addressing food insecurity across LA County; comparable to the Volunteer Center's Food for Kids weekend meal program and shared school-district referral infrastructure.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor: Regional youth development nonprofit in the South Bay/Harbor area; comparable as a community-based youth services organization competing for the same donors, volunteers, and corporate CSR dollars in the same geography.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles: Regional youth mentoring nonprofit serving under-resourced youth in the LA area; comparable to the Volunteer Center's Impact Makers youth development program in target population and volunteer-driven delivery model.
• Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles: Regional nonprofit mobilizing volunteers for hands-on community service projects; comparable to the Volunteer Center's Empathy in Action team-building volunteer experiences and shared corporate volunteer engagement model.
• LA Works: LA-based volunteer center connecting individuals and corporate groups with local nonprofits; directly comparable as a fellow volunteer center operating in the same metropolitan area with similar individual and corporate volunteer programs.

Broad incumbents

• Points of Light: National convener on volunteer service and civic engagement with a broader portfolio (global programs, corporate CSR consulting); comparable as a higher-level infrastructure and advocacy organization for the volunteer sector in which the Volunteer Center operates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/thevolunteerctr
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheVolunteerCenterSouthBayHarborLongBeach
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-volunteer-center-south-bay-harbor-long-beach
• Instagraminstagram.com/thevolunteercenter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach