How Volunteering Can Fill Your Calling

 

Living a life with purpose becomes clearer when time is taken to reflect on the core of who you are and how you’d like to spend your days. Whether focusing on physical therapy to get your shoulder fully mobile or making more time to visit friends, choices must always be made with the awareness that time is limited. Each decision involves weighing what is most essential for you and what you can let go in order to make room for new paths forward.

Volunteering can be a great place to give in ways that are purposeful and fulfilling to you. An AARP 2016 report* reveals that 3 in 4 people 50+ volunteer (whether formally or informally), 52% of which volunteer with an organization. A good volunteer opportunity happens when your talents, values, and passions match what is needed in the community. For some of my friends with children, time is full volunteering with school or sport related activities, while others give time related to their hobbies, such as nature or animals.

I chose to volunteer with AARP Oregon, which provides a lot of flexibility in deciding how I want to get involved. Figuring out what to do can take some time, as the range of activities and topics AARP covers is broad and becoming more localized. Each AARP issue touches on some aspect I relate to personally, whether through my own experience or those of my parents, co-workers, neighbors, and friends.

Completing the Calling Card exercise from AARP ( http://lifereimagined.org/activity/calling-cards) helped uncover some of my natural preferences and strengths that guide me in exploring new paths. The exercise showed how I could match up with certain AARP volunteer options. For example, I discovered many of my choices were on the “investigative” calling card. I like analyzing information, making connections, and discovering resources. Writing a blog has allowed me to do this, and share how issues tie into the lives of the next generation of AARP members.

Complete the calling card exercise and take a look below to see some ideas of possible AARP volunteer activities that might match your calling:

• Realistic – Like to do more physical activities? Set up community service days for local members to address isolation, hunger, and other key issues, or facilitate Home Fit workshops, Driver Safety training, and Neighbor Walks programs related to livable communities in your area.
• Artistic – Like to create things? Get involved with vital aging conferences and other event planning like Movies for Grown-Up nights, and be a communications and marketing volunteer in getting the word out about all that AARP is doing.
• Social – Like to facilitate, heal, and bring joy to people? Help set up AARP tables at events around town. Consider being a trainer for the Finding Jobs at 50+, Life Reimagined Checkups, Financial Security & Retirement Savings, and Caregiving Respite Roundtables, and as a volunteer leader for community engagement.
• Enterprising – Like to persuade people and start things? Consider being a coordinator to build community or legislative connections, represent AARP on community boards, advocate and testify on policy issues, ask candidates to Take a Stand on social security issues, and participate as a Tele-Town Hall volunteer.
• Structured – Like processing, organizing, and operating things? Consider volunteering with office tasks if you’re near AARP staff, or in cities across the state get involved in AARP Foundation’s Tax Aide programs or workshops to teach people 50+ on technology use.
• Investigative – Like researching things and advancing ideas? Look for opportunities that tie aging research, brain health, fraud watch, livability indexes, or AARP policies into practical applications that fit your local community.

Volunteering with AARP Oregon is about Real Possibilities. To learn more, fill out an online volunteer application and be contacted by AARP Oregon (aarp.org/or). Stay tuned at facebook.com/AARPOregon.

* Williams, A. R. (2016). Connecting, serving, and giving: Civic engagement among mid-life and older adults-2014. Washington DC: AARP http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/surveys_statistics/life-leisure/2014-civic-engage-study.pdf .