During a recent Senior Moment segment on the Morning Blend, I spoke about different aspects of charitable giving and giving back to our community. As we ran out of time, we decided to devote an entire Morning Blend segment to one very important method of giving back – volunteering.
I started the segment by drawing attention to a pillow that I brought with me that said: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” This pillow is from the couch in my family room. It reminds me of what’s important in life. And volunteering is one of the best ways to be of service to others.
Not only are there a lot of social benefits to volunteering – like making new friends, getting out of the house, or getting away from your spouse – but there are also health benefits to volunteering.
Both the Mayo Clinic and the Journal of Health Psychology have reported that “volunteering may help you live longer and that volunteers have a lower risk of dying.” Who knew?!
Experts say people who volunteer take care of themselves better, they have lower stress levels, the increased social interaction is very healthy, and they have a sense of purpose, and greater self-esteem.
Volunteering also causes the release of happiness hormones like dopamine that reduce stress. And it has been proven that these hormones can reduce inflammation, and even lower blood pressure.
When it comes to choosing the organization where seniors would like to volunteer, I would imagine a lot of people’s first thought is with their churches, libraries, schools, or hospitals.
It’s admirable that those volunteers give so much of their time to those organizations. And there is a wide variety of volunteer opportunities in every community. But here are four organizations in the Milwaukee area you may not have thought about:
- The Zoological Society of Milwaukee
- The United Community Center
- The Red Cross
- Community Projects for Seniors
The Zoological Society of Milwaukee has a volunteer organization called Zoo Pride. Zoo Pride volunteer duties range from helping with the Zoological Society’s education programs at the Zoo to assisting with Zoo events.
The United Community Center [UCC] on Milwaukee’s south side provides needed services to our Hispanic community in the areas of education, human services, elderly, and health. The UCC has many opportunities for volunteering ranging from reading to preschoolers, to afterschool tutoring for older students, to doing arts and crafts with seniors who attend the Adult Day Center. And this is also a wonderful opportunity to see how much of that high school Spanish you remember!
May I suggest you think of the Red Cross if you are looking for a volunteer opportunity that helps people in their moments of greatest need. You can be part of a team that helps people who are forced from their homes due to devastating circumstances such as a fire or a storm. Or volunteers can help by checking people in at blood drives or do administrative tasks in the Red Cross office.
Here is a suggestion for a senior who is looking to volunteer for an organization that just serves other seniors. Community Projects for Seniors is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to brighten the everyday lives of low-income senior citizens in subsidized housing. Just some of their projects are delivering free hot meals on holidays, delivering care packages, and hosting social events and nature trips.
So many reasons for seniors to choose to spend some of their time volunteering. It truly is one of the very best ways to “find yourself.”