Top Charities in Florida (2026)

Feeding South Florida is the primary food bank for South Florida's four southernmost counties — a region of about 6 million people that includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and the Florida Keys. It works through 300+ partner agencies and runs its own mobile pantry routes into underserved neighborhoods. Food insecurity in South Florida is complicated by high housing costs: plenty of people who work full-time still can't afford both rent and groceries in Miami-Dade and Broward.

Warehouse volunteer shifts run out of their Pembroke Park facility. Corporate groups can book team volunteer days. Cash donations go further than food donations at this scale — they buy in bulk through Feeding America's national network at prices individuals can't match.

Second Harvest covers a seven-county area around Orlando — Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Brevard, Marion, and Volusia — and distributes 300,000 meals per day through 625+ feeding partners. That's a lot, but Central Florida's food insecurity problem is often underestimated: the region attracts low-wage tourism and service jobs that don't cover the actual cost of living. The food bank also runs Mercy Kitchen, a culinary training program for people experiencing hunger, which trains participants to work in the food service industry.

Volunteer shifts at their Orlando warehouse are 2 hours. No recurring commitment required — they take one-time volunteers regularly. Their disaster response is serious: they maintain pre-positioned hurricane supply packs through a partnership with Abbott and Feeding America that can deploy within hours of a storm.

Wounded Warrior Project is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, which is why it appears on this list — though its programs run nationally. It serves post-9/11 veterans and service members who incurred physical or mental injuries during military service. Programs include mental health support (PTSD, TBI treatment navigation), career counseling, caregiver support, and peer mentorship. Florida has one of the largest veteran populations in the country, so the Jacksonville headquarters is not incidental — it's where a lot of the program staff and operations live.

Donations fund specific programs — you can designate gifts to mental health, career development, or caregiver support. WWP has faced scrutiny in past years over overhead costs, which led to leadership changes; Charity Navigator now rates them favorably. If you want to support veterans specifically, this is one of the larger and more established organizations doing it.

Ronald McDonald House gives families a free place to stay when their child is receiving treatment at nearby hospitals. The Orlando chapter serves families at Florida Hospital for Children (now AdventHealth) and Arnold Palmer Hospital — two of the largest pediatric hospitals in the Southeast. When a child needs weeks or months of specialized care far from home, the cost of hotels and food on top of medical stress is genuinely overwhelming. That's the problem RMHC exists to solve.

Volunteer opportunities include meal preparation for resident families, front desk support, and special events. Pull-tab collection (the tabs from soda cans) is their most famous fundraiser — it sounds small but adds up significantly at scale. Meal sponsorships let groups cook dinner for families staying at the house.

Florida has over 50 local Habitat for Humanity affiliates — there's almost certainly one operating in your county. They build new homes, repair existing ones (including post-hurricane restoration), and run ReStore thrift and salvage stores whose proceeds fund construction. Florida's housing affordability problem has gotten severe enough that Habitat now runs programs in markets — like Tampa and Miami — where median home prices have moved far beyond what a working-class family can afford through any conventional path.

Build days are open to first-timers and don't require prior construction experience. Affiliates in larger metros (Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami) run multiple build sites per weekend. ReStore locations accept furniture, appliances, and building materials — drop-off donations fund the housing programs directly.

Florida is the most hurricane-active state in the continental US, which makes the Red Cross's Florida operation one of its busiest. After Hurricanes Ian, Helene, and Milton in recent years, the Florida Region opened hundreds of emergency shelters and provided assistance to hundreds of thousands of displaced residents. Outside of hurricane season, the Red Cross responds to home fires — which happen daily across the state — and collects blood year-round at donor centers and mobile drives throughout Florida.

Blood donation is the fastest way to help right now — appointments are available within days at most Florida chapters. Disaster volunteers go through several weeks of training but are the most impactful role the Red Cross has. If you live in Florida and want to be ready to help after the next big storm, this is the organization to train with.

United Way of Florida is the state association for Florida's 30+ local United Way chapters — organizations like United Way of Miami-Dade, United Way of Broward County, and Heart of Florida United Way in Orlando. Each local chapter distributes grants to nonprofits in its community, runs early education programs (many chapters sponsor kindergarten readiness), and coordinates workplace giving campaigns. Collectively, Florida's United Way chapters invest tens of millions annually in local nonprofits.

Workplace payroll giving is the main channel — if your employer runs a United Way campaign, this is why. You can also give directly online. 211 Florida, a free helpline for residents looking for social services, is run by United Way — it's worth knowing about if you ever need to connect someone with local resources.

Feeding Tampa Bay covers 10 counties across the Tampa Bay and surrounding area — Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, Hardee, and DeSoto. It's part of the Feeding Florida and Feeding America networks, which matters for disaster response: when a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast of Florida, Feeding Tampa Bay is one of the first organizations with food moving into affected areas. They pre-stage supplies before storms make landfall, which reduces the lag time after a disaster significantly.

Volunteer shifts are available at their Tampa warehouse and at mobile distributions around the region. The organization has worked to expand produce distribution specifically — a significant portion of what they distribute is fresh fruits and vegetables, which is not guaranteed at every food bank.

Children's Home Society has operated in Florida since 1902 — one of the oldest nonprofits in the state. It focuses on child welfare: adoption, foster care, early childhood development, family preservation services, and programs for children aging out of the foster care system. Florida has a significant foster care population, and CHS is one of the few organizations in the state with the scale to run comprehensive wraparound services — not just placing children but supporting families before and after.

Becoming a licensed foster parent is the most direct way to help through this organization — Florida consistently needs more foster families. CHS also accepts donations to specific programs, including their scholarship fund for young adults who aged out of foster care without a family to return to.

The Salvation Army runs 60+ service centers across Florida, making it one of the few organizations with physical infrastructure in most Florida counties — including rural areas where food banks and other nonprofits often have limited reach. Their programs include emergency financial assistance (utility bills, rent), shelter for people experiencing homelessness, disaster relief canteens (mobile food units that deploy after hurricanes), summer camps for children, and rehabilitation programs for addiction recovery.

The Red Kettle campaign runs November–December and funds a significant portion of their Florida programs. Year-round donations are accepted online. Thrift stores accept clothing, furniture, and household items — store revenue funds local social service programs. Volunteering is available at local corps (service centers) across the state.