Articles and Information from GA Foods

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting older adults in various ways. In addition to being isolated and lonely, many do not have access to healthy food.

The Benefits of Volunteering: Senior Volunteers Enjoy a Better Quality of Life

Volunteering is altruistic– a gift we give to others. Research reveals it’s also something great we do for ourselves! The benefits of volunteering are varied and even more pronounced for senior volunteers.

Senior volunteers are already more motivated than many of their younger community members. Therefore, senior volunteer recruitment and senior quality of life is a perfect match.

The Area Agency on Aging (AAA) is the lifeblood for most seniors in the United States today. The AAA has the mission of helping seniors age in place, and they face a growing senior population to serve.

These organizations have to care for more seniors with smaller budgets and increasingly are turning to volunteers to get the job done. Volunteers are quickly becoming the backbone of the agency, but volunteering across the US is declining.

Volunteerism is essential to effective day-to-day operations for many non-profit organizations, providing them with assistance and expertise that organizations with limited resources may otherwise be unable to obtain on their own. In other words, the time, labor and skills that volunteers contribute to these organizations help them do more with less, providing them the means to better serve their communities. However, reaping those benefits depends on the ability to attract and retain the volunteers your organization needs. Here we'll outline some key points related to volunteer management that can help in your efforts at doing so.

Why do people Volunteer? 

What motivates someone to volunteer?

And what are they volunteering for?

How many hours a month are they donating to favorite organizations?

Understanding trends in volunteering in the U.S. may be helpful to your efforts recruiting volunteers for your organization. Here are facts about volunteering that we have found.