After working with special needs students for almost 32 years in the Solon, Ohio public schools, I retired at the age of 55. My wife and I traveled cross-country, north/south and east/west – twice – to see all that we had missed of our beautiful country.
As a DIY person, I have remodeled our house inside and out. I am an avid bicyclist and I love to garden. And I worked two other jobs before landing “the dream” – an Encore Fellowship with Greater Cleveland Volunteers.
Greater Cleveland Volunteers supplies volunteers to over 100 local nonprofit organizations. We assist people in finding the right opportunity to serve, based on their interests, skills and availability. As a part-time, paid Encore Fellow, I am in charge of the recruitment of encore-age adults as volunteers, plus volunteers ages 18 and up, especially for organizations with the most critical needs.
I schedule our involvement in recruitment events in the city of Cleveland and its suburbs, as well as at church, civic, block, neighborhood and local business events. I also am creating some of our own volunteer fairs.
For some events, I man the booth and talk with and recruit individuals and groups for volunteerism. I also go out and speak to groups about volunteerism and the re-branding of our agency.
For older volunteers or younger volunteers, the rewards are different, but the outcomes the same. Age doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to volunteerism. It comes from the individual, their mission so to speak. The impact I am having is getting people who weren’t involved, involved. The work may be related to their prior career path, something they are good at or something completely new. Whatever the situation, it is beneficial to their wellbeing. A side to this is that it has made my friends and family think about their own situations. After seeing how this has re-energized me, they are now getting involved.