General | April 20, 2026
Every nonprofit has a number that tells part of their story – families served, meals distributed, people connected to care. But behind every one of those numbers is someone who showed up: a doula who answered the phone at midnight, a volunteer who packed one more bag of produce, a person who raises their hand to take on a volunteer opportunity from a list of where the most needs exist. This Volunteer Recognition Day, we’re spotlighting four Pennsylvania nonprofits that make community participation an integral part of their model.
This is the third and final installment of PANO’s spring spotlight series as part of the national Nonprofits Get It Done campaign. In February, we featured the breadth of Pennsylvania’s nonprofit sector. In March, we focused on the impact some of our PANO members are having every day. Today, we celebrate the people who make the work possible.
Cocolife.Black improves maternal health outcomes for Black and Brown communities by connecting mothers and birthing people to trusted doulas, perinatal mental health support, and culturally responsive education. Their community-powered model is distinctive: They train and employ doulas from the communities they serve, building a workforce of people who understand the families they support. That’s civic engagement at its most personal, ensuring families are seen, heard, and cared for with dignity.
If you’re seeking volunteer opportunities in Centre County, Volunteer Centre County is the place to start. Their platform connects residents to 140 community partners and, over the past year, has posted 313 unique volunteer opportunities, 103 needs for donated goods, and 157 community events. 1,549 people used the platform as a way to give back. It’s a free service that provides a single place to show up for your community – it’s as easy as browsing a list. This organization is making their entire local nonprofit sector more visible and accessible.
For more than 60 years, Pennsylvania’s community action agencies have helped people and families in every county get the support they need to become more stable and self-sufficient. In 2024 alone, they served 451,044 individuals, including 120,584 children, through programs addressing housing, food, employment, and health. Through the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania, local agencies work together to strengthen communities, improve policies, and create real opportunities for families to build better futures. They built their model on a simple idea: The people closest to the challenges are closest to the solutions.
The Maternal and Child Health Consortium supports 5,000 families each year across Chester County through in-home parent education, doula care, benefits enrollment, and community partnerships that strengthen maternal health and early childhood development. Their community baby shower program, hosted in partnership with elected officials like Senator Carolyn Comitta, is a snapshot of what civic engagement looks like when it’s working: nonprofits and public leaders at the same table, focused on the same families.
These four organizations, and the thousands of volunteers and community members who power their work, are examples of what the nonprofit sector in the Commonwealth contributes to making Pennsylvanians’ lives better every single day. PANO’s role is to make sure these organizations, and all of the 38,000 registered nonprofits in Pennsylvania, have what they need to do their best work.
The PANO Navigator is one way we do that. It’s a curated resource that helps nonprofit leaders find guidance, tools, and connections right when they need them. From governance and compliance to fundraising strategy to data that supports grant applications, the Navigator puts PANO’s network behind the people doing the work.
This spotlight wraps up PANO’s spring series in the Nonprofits Get It Done campaign. Over three days of action, we’ve featured 11 Pennsylvania nonprofits spanning nine counties, representing health care, food security, early childhood services, libraries, LGBTQ+ support, maternal health, community action, and volunteerism. And the full picture of Pennsylvania’s nonprofit sector is even bigger.
If you’re a nonprofit leader in Pennsylvania, we’d love to keep telling these stories. Reach out to PANO to let us know what you’re getting done and find out how we can help you do it better.
And if you’re a community member, a volunteer, a policymaker, or someone who benefits from the work nonprofits do, today is a good day to say so. Share what nonprofits get done in your community using #NonprofitsGetItDone, and visit NonprofitsGetItDone.org to learn more about the national campaign.
Nonprofits get it done. Their volunteers make it possible. And PANO is here to support both.
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