Volunteers are a vital human resource. As life expectancy increases there will be a huge pool of talented people ready to advocate, educate and assist with community services everywhere. Senior talent is awesome and important. It doesn’t matter whether you are sharing your secret cookie recipe at a soup kitchen or teaching computer skills, somebody out there needs you. Volunteer work could very well be the most important thing that you have ever done.
We read about how getting out into the community is mentally and socially stimulating, but let’s dig a little further. Volunteering is good for you and volunteering is good for your community. Most of my newly retired friends are keeping busy but they are also searching for something important to do.
Volunteering could be as just as important (or more important) as a paid job. I sometimes wonder if every able bodied individual shouldn’t be asked to do at least one tour of duty (so to speak) as a volunteer? I am not stating this as a given but as a question? What do you think? Perhaps if we knew that we had to give 18 months or so to a volunteer program the decision would be easier.
77 million Baby Boomers turned 60 a few years ago, which means that there are a lot of older adults with time and experience to share. Statistics indicate that many older adults would volunteer if someone would ask, but that less than half of them are ever asked.
It is quite vital that organizations utilizing volunteer help become part of the solution instead of contributing to the problem. Volunteers need to be recruited, encouraged, and nurtured. Since volunteers are free to leave their work if they do not feel appreciated their job satisfaction is paramount. Appreciation must be more than just getting a certificate for showing up over the years. A volunteer’s feelings of being useful and of making a difference will determine whether they stay or not. I signed on to tutor reading at one time, but instead of reading I spent my time gluing Popsicle sticks and taking down bulletin boards. I didn’t stay. Will I try again in another venue? I like to think so.
Volunteers are often not utilized to the best of their abilities and a result the turn-over rate is pretty high. Various solutions are being kicked around by host organizations. They are looking at every avenue from providing counseling and support programs for older volunteers to studying staff attitudes and relationships. Clearly it is up to the host to make volunteer opportunities useful and rewarding for everyone.
Volunteering is important. If you didn’t have a positive experience, try to learn from it. Try again. This time find an area near and dear to your heart, and have a list of questions in your hand when you go in to interview them. Think of it as a job interview. Would that make a difference?
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