Meet Rachel -- if you can catch up with her.
She may be at the zoo, or she may be at the Salvation Army, working on a list of holiday gifts for children in need. Wherever you find her, if you're a new retiree considering volunteering in your life after work, you would do well to heed her.
A ZooPride volunteer since the group's inception in 1975, Rachel Jones retired on June 20, 2003, after "49 years and 20 days" as an underwriter at a Brookfield insurance company.
Her career as a volunteer kicked into high gear then and she's learned a few things along the way.
For starters, pace yourself, she says. At the zoo, she's seen what happens when new volunteers don't. "They sign up for everything on the grounds. Then all of sudden you don't see them again," says Jones, 71. "They get burned out."
This is just one bit of advice from Jones, who pushed her volunteering into full throttle upon retirement, and Donna Anderson, a 77-year-old retired nurse who teaches line dancing and also serves meals at two local senior centers.
Volunteering is a big piece of boomer retirement, and in many ways they are an eager and untapped volunteer army.
With the first wave of the 78 million American boomers hitting retirement, their volunteer work is expected to swell.
Want to See a Purpose? The number of volunteers 65 and older is expected to grow 50 percent in the next 13 years, from less than 9 million now to more than 13 million in 2020, according to research by the federal Corporation for National & Community Service. And they plan to do it their way. Eddy Magnus, who recruits volunteers for Interfaith's RSVP program, considers them a new breed. "The volunteer world is changing a lot because of the boomers," says Magnus, who says these new volunteers are educated and computer savvy. "They don't want to come in and do the traditional filing. They want to make a difference. They want to lead. And they're willing to commit and invest in that -- if they see purpose there." "Boomers don't want to stuff envelopes," says Jennifer Baier, program coordinator for AARP Wisconsin. "They've had careers and where they've done public speaking, event-planning, budgeting. They want to use those skills, and they want to build on those skills." Magnus adds, "They're tough customers in that some of the nonprofits are not there yet. They're not willing to say, 'Oh, that person wants to be a leader? I need someone to answer the phone on Thursday afternoon.' Other nonprofits are like, 'Oh yeah. I will create something that will make them happy and use their skills.'"
Boomers need to know how to find those non-profits, and one good resource is the Internet, Baier says. One site, www.volunteermatch.com, is "huge right now," says Baier. Before searching for that perfect volunteer post, Magnus and others advise new retirees to take some time and do some thinking. Some things to consider, says Magnus: "Do you drive? Do you want to work with people? How much time do you want to commit? Is there a cause you're passionate about?" Passions, Connections Anderson became rather passionate about line dancing at the Wilson Park Senior Center because she had her hands full caring for her husband, a bilateral-amputee as a result of blood clots in his legs. "I kept pretty busy at home," she says. "This dancing was sort of my life line." Then the teacher retired, and Anderson stepped up to teach. She does that on Mondays at Wilson and Friday at Grobschmidt Senior Center in South Milwaukee. She helps serve senior lunch meals at the Grobschmidt Center on Wednesdays and Fridays, drawn into it because her husband had worked as a volunteer taking meal tickets. "He would spend his day there playing cards and having lunch," she says of her late husband. "He started me there, I guess."
What else does a new retiree need to know about volunteering? Keep an open mind, says Magnus. Some would-be volunteers hesitate because of the time they think it will take. "They sometimes come to it with a preconceived idea of the commitment involved," she says. But Magnus says there are "almost limitless" volunteer opportunities. For instance, one of the toughest jobs to fill is driving seniors to appointments and the grocery store because many people overestimate the time involved. Yet it can be one of the more rewarding missions. "I think people don't foresee the benefits," she says of volunteering as a driver. "Some of these people develop such a fabulous relationship. They're suddenly buddies." A Learning Experience Magnus also notes a few other benefits of volunteering. "It gets them out, it gets them new friends, it helps them to learn things," she says. "And all those things benefit their health -- from lower blood pressure to focusing on something other than themselves." Says Jones: "If I had to stay home by myself all day and dust furniture, I'd go bonkers. I enjoy being out among people." Anderson likes staying active, and a few other things about volunteering.
"It's just like your other family," Anderson says of the people she volunteers with. She adds, "I know I'm appreciated. I had 32 people in my dancing class this morning, and everybody seemed to enjoy it. I like to be needed." Magnus' best advice: "Go ahead and try different things. Don't give up. Try something else." She adds, "I am like a matchmaker. If you don't like it, call me back." Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. Powered by Yellowbrix.
