Top Charities in Delaware (2026)

The Food Bank of Delaware is the only facility in the state with the warehouse infrastructure, equipment, and staff to collect food donations from the food industry at scale and safely redistribute them across Delaware. They distribute over 10 million pounds of food annually through a network of 235+ member agencies — food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, children's programs, and senior sites in all three counties. As the Feeding America member for Delaware, they coordinate emergency food assistance statewide.

Delaware's food insecurity numbers, while lower than many Southern and rural states, are still significant: 125,370 Delawareans (12.6%) face food insecurity, and 1 in 5 children (19.7%, or 40,620 kids) are food insecure. Kent County has the highest rate at 13.7%. The Food Bank operates a Healthy Pantry model at their Milford location, offering fresh produce alongside shelf-stable items — rare in rural Kent and Sussex Counties where fresh food access is limited. They've also partnered with ChristianaCare health system to run a Food Farmacy, prescribing medically tailored groceries for patients with chronic conditions.

Volunteer shifts run at their Newark and Milford facilities. No recurring commitment required for most shifts. $1 donated provides approximately 5 meals through their purchasing relationships.

Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County builds affordable homes in the Wilmington metro — one of the most economically polarized small cities in the Mid-Atlantic. Wilmington has persistent poverty concentrated in its urban core neighborhoods, and housing costs have risen enough that homeownership is out of reach for many working families even in a small market. Habitat builds new homes and does community development in historically underinvested Wilmington neighborhoods, working with families who contribute sweat equity hours alongside volunteers.

Delaware also has Sussex and Kent County Habitat affiliates — Sussex Habitat for Humanity covers the southern beach county region, where affordable housing is a serious issue driven by vacation home demand. Build days run on Saturdays and some weekdays, open to first-timers. The ReStore accepts furniture, appliances, and building materials. The Delaware Community Foundation featured Sussex Habitat CEO Kevin Gilmore at a recent event, reflecting the close coordination between Delaware's philanthropic infrastructure and its housing nonprofits.

The Delaware Community Foundation is a top-100 community foundation nationally by assets, making it disproportionately significant for a state of 1 million people. In 2025, DCF distributed $851,500 in scholarships (a record-breaking year), provided $570,000 through the Arsht-Cannon Fund to nonprofits serving Delaware's growing Hispanic/Latino populations, and committed a $13.1 million five-year investment through the Boerger Fund for Alzheimer's disease prevention and treatment. The 2025 annual report also launched "Meet the Moment," an initiative to stabilize the nonprofit community amid unprecedented federal funding changes.

For individual donors: DCF manages donor-advised funds, scholarship funds, and giving circles for Delawareans who want to give strategically. Their Youth Philanthropy Boards — groups of young Delawareans who make grant decisions — distributed $111,000 to 37 Delaware nonprofits in 2026, a distinctive program that develops the next generation of philanthropic leaders in the state. The Foundation has been featured in The Fulcrum's "50 Voices of a Nation" journalistic project as a model of civic engagement.

Humane Animal Partners (formerly Delaware Humane Association and SPCA of New Castle County, merged) is Delaware's largest animal shelter organization, operating two locations in New Castle County — 701 A. Street in Wilmington and 455 Stanton Christiana Road in Newark. The organization provides shelter and adoption services, low-cost spay/neuter, vaccination clinics, and humane law enforcement. Delaware's state animal shelter system also includes Faithful Friends Animal Society (Wilmington), First State Animal Center and SPCA (Dover, Kent County), and several county-run shelters.

Humane Animal Partners is listed by the State of Delaware's pet food bank resource as one of the primary organizations providing pet food assistance to low-income pet owners — keeping pets in homes rather than surrendering them to shelters. Volunteer roles include dog walking, cat socialization, adoption counseling, and community outreach. Foster families are needed for neonatal kittens and animals recovering from medical procedures.

United Way of Delaware distributes grants to nonprofits across all three counties and coordinates workplace giving campaigns for major Delaware employers — ChristianaCare, DuPont, Bank of America, and others. They operate 211 Delaware, a free helpline connecting residents to food assistance, housing resources, utility help, and other services. Dialing 2-1-1 or calling 1-800-560-3372 is the starting point Delaware recommends for anyone looking for social services in the state.

Their Volunteer Connection platform (volunteer.uwde.org) is the most comprehensive listing of current volunteer opportunities with Delaware nonprofits — food banks, shelters, animal welfare organizations, tutoring programs, and more. If you want to find a one-time volunteer opportunity in Delaware and don't know where to start, the UW volunteer portal is the right first stop.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Wilmington covers all of Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, running food cooperatives, emergency food pantries, immigration legal services, counseling, and pregnancy support programs. Their food cooperative model — where participants pay a small amount for a supplemental grocery bag rather than receiving a free handout — is an approach that many find more dignified than standard pantry access. Distribution sites in Wilmington, Milton, Georgetown, Lewes, Slaughter Neck, Long Neck, Bridgeville, and several other Delaware communities extend their reach into rural Sussex County where few other nonprofits operate.

The 24-hour food drop-off bin outside their pantry locations makes donating food straightforward at any time. Emergency pantries at their main office, Kent Office, Sussex Office, Casa San Francisco, and Seton Center provide 3–4 days of food for households in immediate crisis. Immigration legal services serve the significant agricultural worker population in Sussex County, where poultry processing plants employ large immigrant communities.

The Red Cross Delaware Region responds to home fires (Wilmington averages dozens per year), flooding, and severe weather events across the state. Delaware is a small state but has real disaster risks — coastal storm flooding in Sussex County, flooding in Wilmington's low-lying neighborhoods, and winter weather events that can strand residents. The region also collects blood at donor centers across the state; ChristianaCare's hospital system and other Delaware medical facilities depend on this supply.

Blood donation appointments are available within days at the Wilmington chapter. Disaster volunteers complete several weeks of training. CPR and first aid classes are offered at chapter locations. If you were displaced by a fire or flooding in Delaware and need immediate help, call 1-800-RED-CROSS — they provide emergency shelter referrals, food, and clothing at no charge.

Faithful Friends Animal Society at 12 Germay Drive in Wilmington is a no-kill shelter that has operated since 1995 in New Castle County. Alongside Humane Animal Partners, Faithful Friends is one of the primary adoption resources for cats and dogs in the Wilmington area. The no-kill commitment means they do not euthanize animals for space or time — all outcomes are either adoption, transfer to rescue organizations, or return to owner. Their facility handles adoption, foster care, and community cat (TNR) programs in Wilmington.

Volunteer roles include cat socialization, dog walking, foster care, and adoption events. The organization is smaller than Humane Animal Partners and takes a more personal approach to matching adopters with animals — staff spend significant time with both the animals and potential adopters. Foster families are critical to their no-kill operation, particularly for kittens, puppies, and medically complex animals.

Lutheran Community Services has served low-income families in Wilmington and New Castle County since 1959. Their services cover food distribution, housing stability assistance (help with past-due rent, utility payments, and security deposits), and the Delaware Quitline (smoking cessation program). As one of the largest Food Bank of Delaware partner agencies, LCS provides food from pantry locations in Wilmington and Newark, delivering enough food for over half a million meals each year. They also deliver directly to senior housing communities — bringing groceries to residents who can't get to a pantry.

A 2026 collaboration with ChristianaCare produces one of Delaware's more innovative programs: a Food Farmacy that provides medically tailored groceries to patients with chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease as part of their treatment plan. In 2025, thousands of Delaware families used LCS services facing food insecurity, housing instability, and health challenges. Volunteers assist with food pantry operations and garden programs at their Wilmington location.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware matches children facing adversity with adult volunteer mentors across all three counties. Wilmington's urban core neighborhoods have significant child poverty — it's one of the more economically challenged small cities in the Mid-Atlantic — and educational outcome gaps between those communities and suburban Delaware are well-documented. Mentoring research consistently shows improved graduation rates, reduced juvenile justice involvement, and better long-term employment outcomes for matched youth.

Community-based mentoring requires meeting 2–4 times per month for at least a year. School-based mentoring offers a more fixed schedule during school hours. Delaware is small enough that the match process moves relatively quickly — the waitlist for youth exceeds available mentors in most Delaware counties, so new Bigs are typically placed soon after the approval process completes. Volunteers must be 18 or older and pass a background check.