Older Americans are opting for volunteerism in increasing numbers. Some are able to leave their comfortable corporate jobs to volunteer full-time. In Time Magazine’s article, The Do-Gooder Option, three corporate stars over 50 years of age are featured. Bill Gates, Sherry Lansing and Gary Maxworthy left their power-packed jobs for community volunteer projects — local, national and even international. Why would these high-profile corporate masters, not to mention the Angelina Jolie’s and Brad Pitt’s of this world (who, by the way moved to New Orleans to help out with recovery), throw themselves so passionately into the bottomless pit of need? All the literature on volunteering emphasizes human beings’ quest for meaning in life.
"How to Avoid Accelerated Aging” refers to this quest for meaning as the five vitamin C’s:
- Connectivity — “…the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction right after retirement were not health or wealth but the breadth of a person’s social network.”
- Challenge — intellectual and self-improvement
- Curiosity — keeping the mind alert
- Creativity — “A creative soul looks at the shoreline and sees something new every day.”
- Charity — concern, generosity and self-transcendence
Emily referred to these elements. She talked about meeting people and broadening her [social] network; that’s connectivity. She talked about the challenge of teaching people new skills. She also described the creativity needed to find a way to reach each and every student. That creativity is also present as she “develops (her) own style in teaching future classes.”
Emily has to “read their faces” and try different approaches to delivering information because people “all learn differently.” She talked about how she learns from the “new stimuli coming into (her) life” because she is curious about her students’ experiences and how they have lived their lives. And, Emily adds, “The teacher learns as much as the student.” She is happy to volunteer her time to The People Program and to New Orleans recovery; that’s charity.
According to Civic Ventures’ 2000 Survey, almost 28 million seniors 55 years and older reported that they had volunteered. And the numbers are growing. Don’t let anyone tell you that volunteering is not for everybody. There’s nothing like volunteering to continue the joy of sharing, connecting and finding meaning in life. What is the alternative? The experts would say the alternative is “rest” all the way through retirement.
Finding your niche
To match up interests with volunteering opportunities go to www.getinvolved.gov where you can choose an area (drop-down menu), such as children or seniors, the disabled, housing, environment, education, and much, much more.
For another resource, access www.civicventures.org/nextchapter where there are projects listed in 14 US states.
www.VolunteerMatch.org and www.HelpYourCommunity.org are also good sites to explore. It's also possible to go directly to: The American Red Cross, America’s Second Harvest, Family-to-Family, Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army, Helping Children, Feed the Children, or the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation, to name a few individual organizations that solicit volunteering.
Return to Page One of Volunteering<<
Gina Nádas is a veteran economic developer that has worked both domestically and internationally. She has been involved with small business incubation, administering the program for the Jefferson Economic Development Commission (JEDCO). She was responsible, amongst other functions, for creating support systems and programs that assisted fledgling businesses, including women and minority business startups. She also directed international offices within JEDCO and the City of New Orleans’ Economic Development Department. Duties involved international relations and one-on-one assistance to small business representatives engaged in international trade. She was also executive director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana where she devoted time to providing access to social services and business development programs.
Gina has an M.A. in Communications and an M.B.A. She has published in peer-reviewed business journals, presented before domestic and international audiences, and taught international management at the college level. Gina was born in South America and lived extensively in Mexico and Italy, as well as having worked and traveled throughout Central America. She is fluent in Spanish and Italian languages.
