Learn how you can help yourself while helping others.
Retirement can be a wonderful time that people often spend relaxing, traveling, and pursuing their hobbies. But many seniors also find themselves pulled towards something more: a desire to give back and use their time to continue making the world a better place.
Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to make this happen! The benefits of volunteering for seniors extend to so many areas of life, from physical and mental to social and emotional.
Here are some of the top benefits of volunteering for seniors and reasons to consider finding a way to get involved yourself:
- Focus on causes that are important to you
- Make strong social connections
- Learn new skills
- Stay physically active
- Give back to the community
- Have fun and feel good
Let’s learn about the benefits of volunteering for seniors below!
Focus on causes that are important to you
Many people derive a sense of identity from their work and contributions to the world, so retiring can sometimes leave people looking for something new to do. Volunteering provides the time and opportunity to focus on causes that are important to you. By spending time helping others, you can genuinely make a difference and impact projects you might not have had time for in the past. Seeing the tangible results of your efforts and the gratitude they inspire is truly reaffirming.
Make strong social connections
By volunteering, you can make new friends and create strong social connections in your local community. Volunteering is often done in teams, allowing you to collaborate and interact with others. Making an intentional effort to stay socially active can improve mental health and reduce the feelings of isolation and depression that may sneak up over time. Plus, it comes with other health benefits too!
Learn new skills
Volunteering can be an excellent way for you to learn new skills or strengthen existing ones. Seniors who embrace new opportunities will stay mentally sharp and never be bored. With the benefit of a more open schedule, retirees can take on various roles in the community that require different types of knowledge and experience. Start a community garden, join a board, run fundraisers, participate in historical societies, teach a class — the options are endless! Think about things you already love or activities you’ve always wanted to try, and go from there.
Stay physically active
Many volunteer opportunities help seniors stay physically active while they work. Whether it’s stacking shelves at a food pantry, picking up trash on the beach or highway, planting veggies in the community garden, or organizing a walking fundraiser for a cause you care about (e.g., Walk4Hearing), volunteering can double as a way to add movement to your day and keep yourself healthy. This is one of our favorite benefits of volunteering for seniors, as you’ll see long-term results from your activities.
Give back to the community
It’s a time-honored tradition for the older members of a community to pass their wisdom and help along to the next generations. Think about what kind of impact you’d like to make in your community and how you can make that happen. It might be mentoring local youth, helping refugee families adapt to life in your city, beautifying public spaces, or anything else of your choosing.
Have fun and feel good
Have you ever felt the pride and joy that comes from doing good and making a difference in the world? That’s exactly the kind of intangible benefit that volunteering can provide. After you’ve spent the day laughing with your fellow volunteers, making connections with people you’re helping, and leaving your mark on the world, you’ll want to return again and again. Research even shows that volunteering reduces stress and can help us live longer.
For seniors who live in more remote areas or have physical needs that make it safer to stay home, you don’t have to miss out on these benefits of volunteering for seniors! Check out our ideas of ways to volunteer from home.
