Volunteering Opportunities For Seniors
01/29/2014
Volunteering: Get Active While Giving Time
It’s important for the mind and body to remain active every day. This is true at all ages, but especially true as we grow into our senior years. Yet as seniors, we often find we have inactive time on our hands. We’re retired. Our kids have grown, moved out, and have families of their own. Often times we begin to feel useless or bored. In such cases, volunteering is a great option for helping us remain active and social while helping us feel needed and positive. 10 Best Volunteering Opportunities in Retirement The website howstuffworks.com suggests great volunteering opportunities for seniors, stating: “We’ve selected this list of the 10 best volunteer activities for retirees based on the need for volunteers in these areas, the feasibility of volunteering, and the willingness of affiliated organizations to accommodate and reach out to retired volunteers.”Those opportunities are:
- Habitat for Humanity A nonprofit organization that builds and repairs simple, affordable housing with people who need shelter.
- Helping troops, military families, and veterans Opportunities abound for retired military personnel and civilian retirees wishing to lend a hand and show their gratitude to veterans or active servicemen and women.
- Working with children The Senior Corps Foster Grandparent program and The Big Brothers Big Sisters organization gives adult volunteers the chance to build lasting one-on-one relationships with children in need of caring adults in their lives.
- Volunteer Vacations Opportunities that allow seniors to seek adventures while giving back to society while seeing the world.
- Hunger Relief Seniors have long served other seniors through Meals on Wheels, an organization of nutrition programs devoted to preventing hunger and malnutrition in the senior population.
- Disaster Relief Red Cross volunteers fly across the United States and overseas to provide assistance to residents affected by floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters.
- Docent or Tour Guide Universities, museums, and other public and private organizations frequently offer docent programs that train volunteers to lead tours, preserve landmarks or educate visitors.
- Political Campaign Retirees might enjoy volunteering for a political campaign, grassroots organization, or political action committee for a candidate or cause they believe in.
- Legal Advocate Retirees with legal backgrounds bring valuable skills and experience to administrative offices and the boards of directors of non-profit organizations.
- Humane Societies and Animal Shelters. Are you an animal lover? Local animal shelters, rescues and humane societies are always in need of volunteers to care for animals, organize fundraising events, perform administrative tasks, or even help to rescue pets in the wake of floods, fires and other natural disasters.