Volunteering is one good way not only to bring satisfaction and happiness but to prolong one’s life.
During this week, National Volunteer Week (April 20-26), it’s a good time to ponder the multiple benefits of volunteering, especially among elderly people – those over 55.
Life can be difficult for senior citizens for a wide range of reasons: the death of a spouse, an ailment of one sort or another, a lack of hobbies, having to move out of one’s home, a disconnection from a former busy life when all of a sudden there is not much to do, long stretches of isolation from others and resultant loneliness.
As the Covid epidemic social isolation made abundantly clear, many people who isolate themselves are prone to anxiety, stress and depression. Those factors can lead to mental and/or physical problems.
People 55 and older who volunteer not only help others but they help themselves by reducing stress and getting a big boost in social connectedness, well-being and happiness.
Many older people, especially after retirement, feel they have lost a sense of purpose, a lack of day-to-day meaning in their lives. Some of those people had developed hobbies in their lives, but most of their hobbies involved physical activity: various kinds of sports and recreation, traveling, fishing, hunting – the kinds of “hobbies” that require being in strong physical condition. And because many seniors lose their vigorous energy, they need but never developed earlier in life the more sedentary, at-home hobbies such as jigsaw puzzles, creating with arts-and-crafts, woodworking, gardening and so forth.
With that in mind, we are fortunate in this area to have a great resource called AmeriCorps Retired Seniors Volunteer Program, with its main office at the Whitney Senior Center in St. Cloud. There are about 1,000 senior-citizen volunteers who work in a huge variety of volunteer jobs in four are counties: Stearns, Benton, Sherburne and Wright.
Three years ago, about 150 of those volunteers completed a survey. Responses revealed 96 percent of them acquired an exhilarating sense of purpose because of their volunteering. Ninety-six percent of them also noted they felt “safe and valued” during their volunteer experiences, and 88 percent agreed RSVP helps them feel connected to others.
RSVP started in this area in 1973. It partners with more than 100 local non-profit agencies that provide a wide array of vital services.
The following is just one example of how RSVP volunteers have helped fellow residents in the area: One year it hosted nine food drives for local food shelves, and 30 RSVP volunteers collected 1,700 pounds of food and $1,156 in monetary donations.
In the four-county region, RSVP volunteers provide close to 100,000 hours of service for needs that include financial security, food security, healthy aging, K-12 education (mentoring/tutoring/reading sessions with children), veterans’ support, health and wellness, and transportation.
In doing their good deeds, volunteers receive as much or more through their experiences as do the people they help. They soon find they’ve found a sense of purpose, a renewal of energy, an outward focus, a social connectedness, solidarity with others, a give-and-take sociability all adding up to personal satisfaction and happiness. Volunteers find a “new lease on life.”
It is so helpful RSVP staff help prospective volunteers match up available volunteer activities to the skills and interests of each client.
So why not get that “new lease on life?” Call RSVP at 320-255-7295 or visit its website by googling AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP.
