Many retirees tell me the one thing they miss most from their working lives is the structure. It’s the need to get up in the morning, be at work for a certain time, attending meetings, solving problems, be with people, and have a sense of accomplishment.
If you crave structure, then volunteering may be for you. Being a volunteer, you are able to give back through your time and talents to the benefit of others. It may be a fulfilling way to be involved and get the structure you are looking for.
Helping others makes us feel important and that we are contributing to something larger than ourselves. Volunteering gives us the feeling of being needed, useful and provides us with a sense of purpose. We gain gratification in seeing others develop and succeed. We get a tremendous sense of pride while at the same time, earning the respect of others.
Volunteering can help keep your mind active and enhance your leisure hours. Through volunteering you also meet compatible people, people with similar interests and perspectives to your own. This can lead to the development of new friendships. It also enables you to showcase your professional or trade skills and provide opportunity to learn new ones.
Mary was a hospital administrator prior to her retirement. Currently she is working as a volunteer with several community health clinics helping them to update their clinic procedures and policies. In the process, Mary is learning about health challenges facing clinic staff working in multi-cultural communities and the importance of outreach programs.
Alicia loves gardening and volunteers with her botanical centre. Over the years, Alicia has learned a great deal about garden design and horticulture. When she retired, a number of friends and acquaintances asked for her advice on gardening. As a result, Alicia now operates her own thriving garden boutique specializing in small garden design.
For myself, I volunteer with CESO, the Canadian Executive Service Organization. As a volunteer advisor, I travel to the Canadian North and mentor Inuit supervisors and managers in human resources, an area of professional expertise.
Here some options for volunteering:
- Teaching English as a second language
- Assisting new immigrant children with math and other school subjects
- Assisting in local art galleries, museums, and zoos
- Volunteering in local hospitals
- Working with disadvantaged youth
- Delivering meals to shut-ins
- Participating in housing programs like Habitat for Humanity
When considering volunteering as an option, ask yourself, “How much time do I want to commit?” Is it 3 hours a day, one morning a week, or two days a week? Once you decide what makes sense for you and your spouse/partner, stick to your time allocation until you’re both sure you can handle more.
No matter what your skills or experience, find your own volunteering niche. You may want to first try different volunteering experiences to help determine what type of volunteering work best suits you.
Contact your local library or the internet under ‘volunteering’ for contact names and organizations specializing in placing new volunteers.