April 19- 25 is National Volunteer Week

AoA invites Americans of all ages to serve their communities and share volunteer inspiring stories

The U.S. Administration on Aging joins our nation in celebrating National Volunteer Week. This year’s theme, “Celebrating People in Action,” is an opportunity to honor the ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things by dedicating themselves to taking action and solving problems in their communities. Each day, across our great country, selfless people of all ages are performing countless acts of kindness on behalf of others -- lifting them up with simple gestures of friendship that exemplify the American spirit. In 2008, 61.8 million volunteers performed approximately 8.1 billion hours of service.

This is an exciting time to be a volunteer, as President Obama has issued a renewed call for service to all Americans. This call comes at a particularly challenging time for our nation, when more and more people are in urgent need of help. He has asked all Americans to reach into their hearts and minds to determine what we can do to help our neighbors. It is time for more of us to answer this call.

We are particularly proud that President Obama has specifically praised retired Americans who have “a wide range of skills and knowledge to contribute to local and national public service efforts.” Across the United States, senior volunteerism will increase as baby boomers look toward retirement. Many older volunteers are in an excellent position to volunteer. Often they may have the time as well as the experience and expertise to help in a variety of activities. This includes people like Clyde and Charlee Dobey of Huntington, West Virginia, who are spending their retirement years serving the health and spiritual needs of their community and Mary Bartholow, 84, of Dallas, Texas who continues to deliver meals to home-bound seniors and coordinates the schedules of more than 150 volunteers in her community. These are only three examples of what we know is going on in every community across America.

The Administration on Aging (AoA) wants to especially salute those volunteers who help our older citizens. Each year about ten million older people use Older Americans Act (OAA) services, whose delivery largely depends upon the efforts of half a million volunteers. For more than 40 years, AoA and its state and local networks of community organizations have counted on – and received -- volunteer support.

Volunteers have been significant contributors to the aging services network, serving at every level and in the delivery of all types of services, such as meals to home-bound frail elders, mentors or tutors for at risk children, or as nursing home ombudsmen to help ensure the safety and well-being of residents in long-term care facilities.

Older volunteers have always been the backbone of programs administered under the OAA, and they play a critical role in efforts to modernize long term care services in communities across the United States. They provide invaluable services as caregivers to family members and friends, and they play critical roles during natural disasters and emergencies by stepping in to help their neighbors and loved ones when they are needed the most. Just last month, tens of thousands of volunteers of all ages turned out to help citizens across North Dakota as they awaiting approaching floodwaters.

Volunteering is also good for your health. Recent research findings demonstrate the positive relationship between good health and volunteering. People who volunteer have lower rates of heart disease and live longer. Additional studies have shown that people who volunteer are overall more physically and mentally fit than those who do not. This is a “win-win-win” situation, good for the volunteers, good for those they serve, and good for our nation’s economy and well being.

There is great truth to the age-old axiom “It is by giving to others that we receive.” The Administration on Aging salutes volunteers who give on a regular basis. By giving of themselves, they receive the gratitude of the entire nation. During National Volunteer Week and throughout the year, we encourage all Americans to do their part to serve the nation and our communities.

If you know a volunteer who is making a difference in your community on behalf of older persons, please share your story with us by emailing us at moya.thompson@aoa.hhs.gov. Your story may inspire others to volunteer.

To learn more about ways you may volunteer in your communities, please visit our Civic Engagement webpage at http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/AoA_Programs/Special_Projects/Civic_Engagement/index.aspx.

Last Modified: 7/16/2009 8:54:23 AM