As a Stranger Intern.

Check out Seattle Works. They partner with a lot of different organizations that need volunteers. You can volunteer at different places on an ad-hoc basis, and use that to figure out where you might want to volunteer on a more regular basis. Or, you could just keep volunteering at different places with Seattle Works -- they have dozens of different opportunities every month.

United Way of King County has a vast, searchable database of volunteer opportunities.

http://www.uwkc.org/ways-to-volunteer/

The Nature Conservancy of Washington, Mountain to Sound Greenway, and Lifelong AIDS Alliance all gladly accept volunteers with various skills and/or interest in the outdoors (in the case of the first two).

The Reel Grrls listing should specify that they welcome female mentors only. Just checked their website to look into volunteering. I have a great deal of film and lighting experience as well as some teaching experience but alas, I am the wrong sex.

Most of the people you see with an aquarium shirt at the Seattle Aquarium are volunteers, whether they are just giving you information about species or feeding some of them. You have to be able to do the orientation, but it's pretty awesome. I believe the Woodland Park Zoo also has a volunteer program, but I haven't done it myself.

Also, the Seattle chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has a blue water task force that measures things in the local waters. They got some attention a couple years back after they found unsafe levels of fecal content in the stream that empties at Golden Gardens. This chapter does beach and mountain cleanups throughout the year.

There is also the Washington Trails Association, if you ever want to try to get out of Seattle. They do lots of trail maintenance in the summer.

@3 @4 said it

http://www.companis.org/

Companis has placed volunteers in a variety of Seattle area non-profits. They match people according to interests, experience and skills.

Planned Parenthood always needs volunteers, either on the political or clinic side of things .

Urban Rest Stop! Help marginalized folks feel more human for a little while.

Come volunteer to make signs and do other creative things to inspire grassroots advocacy with the Washington Toxics Coalition. Help us pass the Toxic-free Kids and Families Act in 2014 and pressure WalMart to continue the move to remove toxic products from their shelves! Contact rsayre@watoxics.org to learn how you can have fun while working for a cleaner safer Washington and world!

and at the DESC shelter at the Morrison Hotel, residents can/will be eaten alive by the bed bugs that infest every corner of the sleeping area. But hey, beggars can't be choosers. Right?

Green Seattle Partnership: http://seattle.cedar.greencitypartnershi…

EarthCorps: http://www.earthcorps.org/volunteer.php

Both great ways to explore the city by helping in the parks, reconnect with nature in the city, meet new people, and help the planet. Park restoration is one of my favorite things to do.

YouthCare should be represented here. Orion center at the bottom of Denny is a great resource for homless youth & always has needs for volunteers. Orion will be closing next year due to lack of funding, but YouthCare has lots of transitional living programs throughout the city that also can use volunteers teaching youth skills, or cooking a dinner, or exposing them to new experiences that they wouldnt have the opportunity to experience otherwise.

Literacy Source—much, much more than just helping people learn to read.
www.literacysource.org

@1: Just to clarify, The Stranger no longer has an internship program. Earlier this year, we switched to an apprenticeship program. These are paid positions, they last six months, and there are three apprenticeships at the paper: an apprenticeship in the news department, one working with the arts editors, and one dedicated to the music section. When a paid apprenticeship slot opens, we'll post it right here on Slog.