Douglas County Nonprofits: Where to Volunteer, Give and Visit

The number to save in your phone: (720) 831-8130. That is the wildlife emergency line for Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance (RMWA), a wildlife hospital and rehabilitation center at 6490 N US Hwy 85 in Sedalia, licensed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The line is answered seven days a week, 9am to 5pm. Their site spells out when to act (an animal that is bleeding, missing a limb, covered in parasites, a downy young raptor on the ground, a destroyed nest) and when to leave it alone (a young animal exploring while a parent is still nearby).

Founder and executive director Emily Davenport is a certified wildlife rehabilitator and registered veterinary technician, and the "Alliance" part is literal: alongside the hospital, RMWA runs education for the public and continuing education for wildlife professionals. I drove out in April 2026 and met Emily and a few of the education ambassadors; that visit became the lead of Castle Rock Crew #071, linked below.

Humane Colorado (formerly the Dumb Friends League, 115-plus years in) runs the Buddy Center at 4556 Castleton Court in Castle Rock. It handles adoptions, pet admissions, lost-and-found and humane education. Adoption hours are 10am to 5pm every day except Tuesday, when it is closed; pet admissions run 9am to 5pm daily. In fiscal year 2025 the organization welcomed 4,303 homeless pets across its three shelters.

If you read Castle Rock Crew you already know this place: we feature one of the Buddy Center's adoptables in the newsletter on a regular basis (Diesel the 63-pound cattle dog, Francis and Dot the Great Pyrenees puppies, Daphne the shy one). Most of them are gone by the next issue, which is the point.

A Colorado 501(c)(3) sanctuary for farm animals that, in the ranch's words, "lost their homes through no fault of their own": horses, donkeys, goats, cows, sheep, chickens and dogs whose previous owners hit health, lifestyle or money trouble. The ranch pays for it with tours, camps, private parties and photo shoots, and says all proceeds go to the animals.

The math they publish is refreshingly plain: about $100 to $150 a day to operate, roughly 20 small bales of hay a week, and a goal of keeping $5,000 in the emergency vet fund each year.

Sunday Salmon calls itself a "NO-COST, organic, gluten and seed-oil-free community restaurant," and that is exactly what it is: a registered 501(c)(3) at 207 W Wolfensberger Rd, Suite 100, in Castle Rock that serves a sit-down, family-style dinner every Sunday at 5pm and 6pm. Tables seat 10 to 12, the meal is free for everyone, and donations are accepted. It started as founder Mary Grothe's own Sunday salmon-and-vegetables dinner for friends and family, which she opened up to the whole town.

The Sunday dinner is the anchor, but the site also lists a Tuesday Tacos buffet, Wagonwheel Wednesdays, Thankful Thursdays and a mobile food trailer. Everything runs on donations: September's published budget was $18,600, of which the four Sunday dinners cost $4,600.

The Help & Hope Center at 1638 Park Street in Castle Rock is the county's catch-all for emergencies: food, housing and utility help, clothing, household items and emergency financial support for Douglas and Elbert Counties. Its own goal for the year is emergency assistance for more than 30,000 people. The food pantry works like a store, with clients shopping the aisles for groceries, toiletries, diapers and pet food rather than taking a pre-packed box.

Client services are open Monday through Friday, 8:30am to noon. The attached Treasures Thriftique (Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm, Sat 9am to 4pm) funds the work and is the easiest way to help without scheduling anything: shop there, or drop donations Monday through Friday 9am to noon and Saturday 9am to 2pm.

The Parker Task Force for Human Services has run on a 100 percent volunteer staff since it was founded on February 3, 1987. It provides food, limited financial help to head off evictions and utility shut-offs, and referrals for people in Parker, Franktown and Elizabeth. The food bank is at 19105 Longs Way in Parker, open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9am to 1pm; clients need to arrive or call by 11:30am for same-day service.

The Aspen Effect's stated mission is to "build resilient, connected families by preventing youth mental health crises and harmful behaviors through mentors, animals, and a healing ranch environment." The ranch is Happy Dog Ranch Horse Sanctuary, 117 acres about 3.5 miles south of downtown Sedalia on CO 67, home to nearly 70 rescued horses plus alpacas, goats, mules, mini horses, four barn cats, a donkey and a pig named Charlotte. The Aspen Effect's "Hangout" is a heated three-room apartment next to the indoor arena.

Programs: the Ranch Mentor Club pairs kids with adult mentors and puts them to work with the goats and mini horses; Ranch Resilience Camp is a two-day summer morning camp; a Teen Advisory Board gives the youth a say. The organization says it has served more than 1,000 families since it began in 2017, with over 300 in 2026. We brought a group of readers out for a private tour in April 2026; it is a quieter place than you expect, and the phones-away rule is real.

CALF is the Colorado Agricultural Leadership Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that John and Bea Lowell created in 2002 "to preserve a piece of rural life within the suburbs and promote agricultural education." It runs the Lowell OV Ranch along East Plum Creek in Castle Rock, homesteaded in 1878 and in the Lowell family since 1906. The core program is field trips: by CALF's own count, close to 3,000 students come through between April and October.

We went to Harvest Day on September 26, paid the $1 minimum at the gate, rode the hay wagon (someone rode along in a cow suit), met the two donkeys and watched a rooster strut out of the old house they turned into a chicken coop. The full visit, with photos, is linked below.

Not a place you volunteer so much as a place you go. A Sanctuary Center is a nonprofit corporation on just under four acres at 3720 W Wolfensberger Road, where Wolfensberger meets Highway 105 west of Castle Rock. Its own summary is "Walk ~ Read ~ Reflect ~ Renew": a stone labyrinth, a meditation building with a lending library, benches and walking paths, a Sacred Geometry Garden (medicine wheel, Platonic solids, a Pa-Kua and a sundial) and the wishing trees, where visitors tie written prayers and wishes to the branches.

Open sunrise to sunset, seven days a week. When we visited in August there was no gate, no fee and nothing to sign; you park and walk in.