Volunteering for Ride Connection is a rewarding and joyful experience.
Our volunteers make a huge difference in our community members’ lives. There are many ways to get involved and help us realize our mission. If you enjoy helping others and believe transportation is a basic human right, we want to hear from you!
Volunteer Appreciation Month
In 2025, our 141 volunteers gave over 10,800 hours of their time to keep our customers moving on over 23,934 trips. Our Ride Ambassadors rode on 21 different transit lines with 217 trip participants! Later this month, we will be celebrating our volunteers at recognition events around the city. Continue reading for a few stories about the volunteers who help seniors explore Portland on TriMet field trips and a driver who has been taking extra time to support our customers since 1999.
Jaime
Once the pandemic began to pass, Jaime was one of the first volunteers to raise her hand to lead Ride Ambassador trips again. She had missed the joy of bringing people together on public transit to explore Portland’s many cultural institutions.
After growing up in South Dakota and spending her young adulthood in Arizona, Jaime realized she wanted to live in an urban area with accessible public transportation. With family in Northeast, she decided to make the city her home. Because she has a disability that prevents her from driving, public transit offers her both independence and ease—plus, she never has to worry about car expenses.
Back in 2010, she spotted a flier on a New Seasons community board for Ride Connection’s Ride Ambassador program and thought “That looks cool and I’m on the bus all the time anyways!” She loves supporting an organization that promotes people to live a life of independence no matter their age or ability. She treasures the people she meets through the program, and she enjoys exploring events and museums around town—without having to plan all the details herself!
When heading somewhere new or leading a trip for a group she hasn’t worked with before, Jaime often scouts the route in advance. Her preparation and familiarity with the bus system helps put participants at ease, especially those who have never taken TriMet before. She even researches the exhibit or performance the group will be visiting so she can help set the stage for their experience.
One of Jaime’s hopes for Ride Connection is to continue bringing people together and showing them that public transit isn’t intimidating; it can open up their world.
Thank you, Jaime!
Ken
If you’ve needed a ride on a Wednesday afternoon in King City sometime in the last 25 years, chances are Ken picked you up! He’s our longest-serving volunteer driver, driving customers in the area since 1999. Ken started volunteering when he was laid off, and even when he started a new job at Intel, he worked out a way to continue with his afternoon shift.
Ken has continued volunteering for so long because he likes meeting people, and he knows he might be one of the only people a customer interacts with all day. He says it “seems like when I arrive at a place, they are always smiling.” One of his regulars is Patricia, a 100-year-old who attends lunch regularly at the Sherwood Senior Center. She gives him a review of the day’s meal and shares about her life growing up on a farm.
When not steadily driving a Ride Connection minivan, he enjoys driving his Telsa in full self-driving mode. Going back and forth between the vehicles is like a brainteaser for him! Besides a love for computers, Ken is also an avid sailboat racer with his boat Aventura. At last summer’s Small Yacht Sailing Club of Oregon, Ken and his younger crew members (one is 76, the other in his 40s) came in 1st last year in their race. Go Ken!
Ways To Volunteer
Driver
Our customers rely on us for life sustaining rides to medical appointments, the grocery store, community centers, work, and more. Help them get there by volunteering to drive! You can drive your own vehicle, or one of ours.
Requirements for volunteer drivers include:
A valid driver’s license and 5+ years of driving experience.
Completing our volunteer application and interview process.
Ability to pass a criminal background and DMV check.
Completing training courses provided by Ride Connection (available in classroom or online).
Ride Ambassador
Have experience using the local bus and light rail system? Share your knowledge with people who are new to transit. Ride Ambassadors lead older adults on group trips to places like museums, gardens, and events, creating confidence and independence on local public transit systems.
Requirements for Ride Ambassadors include:
Experience riding public transit, including bus and light rail.
Completing our volunteer application and interview process.
Ability to pass a criminal background check with fingerprinting.
Completing six hours of training provided by Ride Connection.
Mission Support
Use your specific skillset to help with office work, sit on committees and advisory councils, or represent Ride Connection at community events. Find out more about opportunities to support our mission in and around the office.
Requirements for mission support volunteers include:
Completing our volunteer application and interview process.
Ability to pass a criminal background check.
Completing any relevant training pertaining to your volunteer role.
Volunteer Contact Form
We sincerely appreciate your interest! Tell us what appeals to you and our Volunteer Outreach Manager will give you a call within a few days to follow up.