Founded in 1967 by seven Lake Forest and Lake Bluff women, Lake County Cares was originally called the Volunteer Bureau of Lake Forest/Lake Bluff. This grassroots organization was established to help connect residents of the community with opportunities to serve and to help solve community needs through innovative programming. Several programs created by the The Volunteer Bureau and eventually spun off include Relief for Caregivers, The SeniorTransportation Network, Safe Sitter Program, and the Gorton Drop-In Center. The organization changed its name to the Volunteer Center of Lake Forest/Lake Buff in order to better align itself with the national network of Volunteer Centers after receiving national accreditation from the Points of Light Foundation. In 2009, the organization changed its name to Lake County Cares to better represent the communities it serves.