Volunteering has so much intrinsic and tangible value. It can help you expand your horizons, meet new friends, build new skills, exercise, and feel good about giving back to others. Individuals of all ages can benefit from lending a helping hand, but volunteering can be especially meaningful for seniors. Taking advantage of volunteer opportunities for senior living residents and their families can help the family build a stronger bond while creating new memories and traditions for each family member.
The best senior living communities understand the value of volunteerism and relationship building, and will therefore incorporate these offerings into their social calendars. For instance, at Waltonwood, our experienced life enrichment team works to facilitate activities such as knitting blankets to give to homeless shelters, making care kits for veterans, or going to schools to read to young children.
Volunteer activities for many charitable organizations are suitable for individuals of all ages, although each task should be appropriate for a person’s age, skill level, and abilities.
So gather up the grandparents, parents, children, and their children, and think about what skills you can contribute to your favorite charities. Your family can participate in a fundraising walk or golf outing, lead a financial drive, donate products or services, make a concerted effort to increase awareness, or participate in a variety of other events that each organization hosts.
Following are only a few national organizations that could use your help, along with links for more information about what you can do.
- Salvation Army
- American Red Cross
- National Kidney Foundation
- Big Brothers Big Sisters
- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
- Alzheimer’s Association
- Feeding America
- American Cancer Society
- The Nature Conservancy
- Make-A-Wish Foundation
If you would prefer to volunteer your time and resources to your local community, there are plenty of ways to do that as well. Consider volunteering for your local church, soup kitchen, school district, community athletic organization, historical museum, and so on. There are so many volunteer opportunities for senior living residents and their families that you can decide on something new to do on a regular basis.
At Waltonwood, we understand how important it is for seniors to socialize and build relationships with friends and family, so we work hard to facilitate and organize volunteer activities and other fulfilling events. See our Waltonwood Senior Living Facebook page to learn more about all the exciting things we do.