My friends sometimes tease me about the number of organizations I
am involved with on a regular basis. One of my friends said to me the other
day, you and I volunteered while we were working. We spent 100's of hours
helping, taking charge and running programs successfully. I have had it I would
not do it again for love or money." I laughed as he was right but for him.
I enjoy what I do, and I know that it does help some people. Not everyone will continue
to volunteer once they retire, and many when they retire consider volunteering
as a way to help pass the time. No matter what helps you decide to volunteer, or
makes you think about volunteering it is important that you select something
you are passionate about, and that you decide how much time you will spend on
the activity on a monthly basis. I know there are a lot of well-known organizations
that have extremely active and established volunteer programs, such as Habitat
for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, American Red Cross, and Big Brothers, Big
Sisters. Alternatively, you may want to devote your time to serving political
campaigns you believe in or work with organizations that help seniors or other
groups.
I was talking to one senior, and we were discussing volunteering
and he said that he and his wife wanted to volunteer but when they started to explore
their options, he said a number of places put restrictions on them. I asked
what he meant. He said the organizations wanted to dictate the number of hours
they could volunteer, the days they could volunteer, etc. He said he and his
wife were not willing to give up their retirement freedom, even for good
causes.
Schools, hospitals,
libraries, and food banks are all outlets where you can offer your availability
locally. If you’re looking for other interesting and off-the-beaten-path
volunteering ideas, why not become a:
·
Sports
coach
·
Art
teacher
·
Music
teacher
·
Museum
docent
·
Local
tour guide
·
Foreign
language or English as a Second Language teacher
Or donate your time to a
local:
·
Nature
park or wildlife preserve
·
Botanical
garden
·
Recycling
center
·
Neighborhood
cleanup committee
·
Religious
center
·
Animal
shelter
· Women’s rights organization
For anyone with limited
mobility or transportation, there are ways to help without leaving your home!
You can mentor students online, make fundraising calls, foster animals, offer
administrative help, or become a host family to an exchange student.
The
big issue with volunteering is that there are not enough volunteers to go
around and that is a problem. If you find your passion and start to help, it is
too easy to fall into a time trap where you are giving too much of yourself and
you will burn out. So, my advice is if you start to volunteer, learn to say no
quickly to new opportunities that will be presented to you, By learning to say
no, you will still contribute while having fun without losing yourself to a time trap.
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