Volunteering: what's it all about?

These men are among dozens of retirees who volunteer at the Dassel History Center.

These retirees contributed to a book, Main Street Kids, about their childhoods in Dassel.

Now that I'm past 65, I hang out with a lot of volunteers.

What is it about senior citizens and volunteering? Are we bored? Are we really motivated by an altruistic desire to "give back to the community?" Or do we just want to feel useful in our declining years?

It could well be a combination of all of the above.

Since entering kindergarten at age five, most citizens take on a role. You are a first-grader, or a junior in high school, a freshman at XYZ University, an intern, a mother or father, a secretary, a nurse, an architect or lawyer at ABC firm, etc.

In my adult life, I was, respectively, a freshman at the University of Idaho, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, a clerk typist at the University Extension Service, a full-time mother of one, two, three and finally four children, a farmwife, a braille transcriber and secretary, a newspaper reporter, a county commissioner, a consultant.

Now I'm retired. Almost daily I am asked, "What are you doing now that you've retired?"

My response is usually, "I'm doing a lot of volunteer driving for the county and a little part-time work."

The variety of part-time gigs are too numerous for the typical, "Hey, how are you?" conversation, so I tend to focus on the volunteer driving. It is probably my most consistent pastime these days, anyhow.  My free-lance journalism occupies perhaps six hours a month, plus about a week of intense work on a quarterly basis. Custodial work at my church takes approximately two hours a week. My seasonal Farmers Market work--about four hours a week for a few months. My other volunteering--at church and at the History Center--is pretty sporadic: two or three hours per week at best. That makes the Retired Senior Volunteer driving gig, at 10-15 hours most weeks, the closest thing I have to a "real" job.

I filled out an application for this gig and passed the background screening. Once a year, my doctor needs to okay my medical suitability for driving and my mechanic has to inspect my car. I have annual training sessions. I even wear a badge. Yeah, it's like a real job. Except that I don't need to report the stipend to the IRS since it is technically just reimbursement for my expenses.

Being a volunteer driver means I spend time a car, often for a couple of hours, with people from all walks of life. Some are little old ladies who no longer drive, but I also take people of all ages to their mental health groups, people who cannot drive because of DUI records to their doctor appointments, people with cancer to radiation, young people in foster care to summer school programs and disabled people to physical therapy. Most of my clients are low income. It is interesting to meet them. Many of them talk freely about how they came to be in their current situation. It is sobering to hear how a car accident, a divorce, a DUI incident or health issues changed what had been a normal, active life into  a daily struggle. It doesn't take long to realize that people on "welfare" are human beings. Most of them worked hard until their health forced them to quit. Their lives are not easy. Several of them have experienced homelessness or domestic abuse. Giving up driving--whether due to their health or eyesight or because of extreme poverty--has been difficult for many of them. An extra perk has been that driving the foster care kids has enabled me to keep up on the latest music on the car radio--and some of it is actually good.

I also spend an hour or two (or more) waiting for the clients while they are seeing their doctor, dentist or therapist. We volunteer drivers learn the most convenient (and cheapest) locations for cups of coffee, fuel, and fast food near the medical facilities in the cities we frequent. My fitness club membership allows complimentary workouts at a sister franchise--and I take advantage of this privilege. I know where the nearest Target and fabric stores are located in regional centers. I keep comfortable shoes in the car for mall walking, I also get a lot of embroidery, reading and writing done in waiting rooms. My waiting time is definitely not wasted.

So why do I do it? I really don't know. Since my own parents died when I was quite young, I was spared the obligation of caring for my elders, so this is a way I can have that experience. I had to drive as part of my reporter & commissioner jobs and became accustomed to navigating the Twin Cities as well as the rural regional centers of St, Cloud, Willmar and Hutchinson. In recent years, God has provided me with dependable cars, and this is a way to show my appreciation. Also (and quite importantly for many seniors on a fixed income,) driving for the county service means that my mileage and expenses are reimbursed. This basically allows my husband and I to own and operate two vehicles instead of only one. (It is cheaper for our government-funded medical programs to pay mileage for a volunteer than it is to hire a cab or pay for a medical transportation service.) I also request reimbursement of expenses for several of the other volunteer activities in which I take place, including several of the advisory committees on which I serve.

As a retiree on a pension, I can afford to donate my time, but gas is expensive.

In digging deeper into why people volunteer, I think that a more substantive reason is that it is a good use of human resources. We sixty-somethings are often in good health and mentally alert when we retire. Some of us leave the job market before we had intended to fully retire, Others of us leave as planned, but wind up "flunking" retirement because we need to keep our minds and bodies more active.
Modern medications and attention to diet and exercise keep many of us in good physical condition long after the Depression-era established "retirement" age of 65.

Why should society park the brains and bodies that it has spent millions of dollars educating and keeping healthy on shelves just because those brains and bodies have turned 65? Social Security and pensions often make labor no longer needed for financial sustenance, but active people want to remain active. Finding the right volunteer job allows older adults to make better use of the physical plant of their bodies.

Travel, golf, cards and other leisure activities may not give people enough of a sense of purpose. Women, especially, may miss the physical presence of adult children who have grown up and moved away. Volunteering can also fill the gaps in a person's life after a spouse or beloved sibling or friend passes away.

Not all retirees need or want to volunteer. For some, the daily responsibility of being a caregiver for an ailing spouse or elderly relative, helping to raise their grandchildren, or dealing with a personal health issue occupies most of their time and energy. Other retirees find themselves in need of income to supplement their Social Security checks. For them, a part-time job may take the place of volunteering. (Or the presence of a pension check to cover the "necessities" may provide the incentive to actually try some avenue of self employment.)

As young people, we attend college or trade school to prepare ourselves for a lifetime career. In a similar way, as people approach retirement, they should take inventory of their unique skills and interests and prepare for the activity for this "encore" period of their lives. (A couple I know, Mark and Janet Skie, have written a book, "Mapping Your Retirement," about this stage of life.

Types of volunteer opportunities vary greatly. People in certain careers, such as medicine, teaching, and social services, are accustomed to the roles volunteers play in their institutions, and gravitate quite naturally into these roles after they retire. Hospitals, nursing homes and schools buzz with the energy of recently retired staff. Some of these opportunities (such as substitute teaching) also bring supplemental income into a retiree's home.

Opportunities to utilize retirees' brains and skills also abound in faith-based institutions like Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services and within churches and synagogues of all denominations. Most museums and libraries would shut their doors without their cadres of volunteers. The advantages of this type of volunteering for older professionals is that this type of volunteer work need not be boring or mundane. Non-profit organizations need everything from envelope stuffers to handymen to project managers. They often have volunteer coordinators on staff to keep things running smoothly.

Another type of volunteering in which I engage is serving on boards and advisory committees. City councils, county boards, state government, hospitals and church denominations are seeking skilled, experienced individuals to sit on these panels. Expense reimbursement or stipends may be part of this type of service.

Political activism provides another opportunity for volunteers. People who are passionate about a cause or philosophy or candidate will find lots of opportunity in this arena.

Additional training may be a part of the volunteer experience. I am being sent to leadership training by a church denomination board on which I serve. Many non-profit groups invest in training their volunteers and board members.

After I retired, I looked into a number of volunteer opportunities and got involved in the ones I am presently doing. I discontinued or cut back on a couple of other activities, mostly because I found them not to be as good of a "fit" to my skills and interests. (It is easy to say "yes" to things that are not a good fit, simply because one has more spare time after retirement.)

For the most part, I have been spared time-consuming "caregiver" duties, and something in my nature needs a role identity. And yes, doing something for those less fortunate than me helps me feel better, more useful and as if I'm fulfilling God's exhortations to serve my fellow inhabitants of this planet. So I volunteer.

Accepting limitations -- or not

Kay grooms her pet donkey, Patches, a week and a half after returning home from the hospital.

I recently returned from a trip to Connecticut where I spent time with my younger sister, who is recuperating from a head injury sustained in a fall on her rural acreage. The fall fractured her skull and created a hematoma on her brain, so the doctors kept her in the intensive care unit, in an induced coma, for more than a week in early April. She was finally released from the hospital's rehabilitation facility in early May, and received physical and occupational therapy for another month.

Other than a mild, barely noticeable memory loss and aphasia, in which she substitutes the wrong word for the word intended, she seems normal. However, they did not want her to drive for a while, and I noticed than she lacked her usual ability to multi-task. She needed to concentrate on one task at a time in order to get things done. I spent 10 and a half days driving her to appointments, running errands with her, and  assisting with household chores.

Adjusting to a slower pace was, and continues to be, very frustrating for Kay. She has a "Type A" personality, operates her own business, and is used to 16-hour work days. Habitual jogging, yoga classes and gardening have kept her in great physical condition, which allowed her to cruise thru her physical therapy at a much faster pace than expected. And a trip to the hairdresser solved the "bad hair" caused by the doctors shaving part of her head following the injury.

The RBB&B elephants arrive in Hartford.

Kay operates a public relations firm that has a contract with the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus. They handle the news releases and much of the advertising and public relations activities whenever the circus is in southern New England. As much as the doctors warned her not to return to work, she begged me to drive her to downtown Hartford for an "elephant brunch" with local Head Start kids and their families. How does a woman say "no" to her childhood roommate and "partner in conspiracy" against neighborhood bullies? I complied.

When she was first discharged from the hospital, Kay was directed to walk with a cane when outdoors or on uneven ground. Since she did not own a cane, she put a spare ski pole into service as her walking stick. By the time I found a parking spot after dropping her off in front of Hartford's Old State House, Kay was barking orders to the Head Start families and staff, using her ski pole as a crowd control device. She later introduced me to the ringmaster, several circus clowns, and to the other people from her firm who had taken over her duties for the event.

Kay used her ski pole for crowd control.

After the elephants enjoyed their "brunch" of lettuce, bananas, bread and watermelon, Kay had me drive two of the clowns back to the circus train. (Since elephants travel only by rail or walking, the RBB&B Circus only accepts venues within a mile or so of a railroad siding. The beasts ride in specially designed, extra high, climate-controlled railroad cars. Some of the circus crew ride in sleepers in the same train.)

Throughout my stay, I observed Kay's need for more rest than usual, but I also observed that she is extremely eager to get back to "normal." And for her, there is a good probability that she will make a full recovery. Except, of course, for the limitations that aging puts on all of us. 

I'm part of an on-line community entitled "Changing Aging." The general tone of this group is that there is no reason for older people to slow down, retire, be subjected to "age discrimination" or change their lifestyles to "accommodate" the aging process. For the most part, a positive approach toward the aging process is preferable to a negative one. But a few of my colleagues seem to think that people should be able to avoid the infirmities of old age until, some fine day, they drop dead of a heart attack while walking home from the post office. (Or, as humorist Garrison Keillor once fantasized, they keel over while having a beer at the local tavern after their girlfriend's husband shoots them in the back.)

Although Ben Franklin's old adage that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"  may delay some disabilities, it is not realistic to presume that a positive attitude, regular exercise, a nutritious diet and consumption of dietary supplements will prevent all the ravages of age.  Cancer and dementia happen to people from all walks of life, who have made all kinds of lifestyle choices. Even lifestyle-related conditions like heart disease, lung cancer and diabetes have a hereditary component. Disciplined people who have made admirable choices can and do succumb to chronic disease. In addition, accidents can happen to anyone--even healthy people like my sister. To suggest otherwise is to engage in "blaming the victim."

When I hear someone brag that, "They'll never put me in a nursing home," I shudder. How does that person know that disability will never happen to them? It is delusive to make this kind of assumption, or to arm-twist spouses or children into making caregiving promises they may not be able to keep.

So how is one to approach aging? Several people have criticized me for my reluctance to fully retire. I desire to keep busy, doing practical, useful work and helping others. I continue to set goals. I continue to accept positions on various committees and boards. Six weeks ago, I began writing again for a newspaper on occasion, after a 10-year hiatus.

Yet I also need to admit that there are a few projects, a few challenges I will never be able to complete. There are some "dream vacations" that my husband and I may take--and a few more we probably will not take. I won't climb mountains (except perhaps in a car or on a ski lift) and I probably will never learn to ride a surfboard. And even if a company or agency WAS willing to hire a 66-year-old woman full time, I probably should not try to work 40 hours a week any longer, in addition to keeping up our home and yard. I simply do not have as much physical stamina as I once had, and it seems to take a little longer to absorb new information.

So I work a few part-time gigs instead. Most of them allow flexibility in the hours of work. I can sit down and take a break as needed. I don't have to punch a clock. It's okay.

My sister called this evening, all excited. The doctor told her today that she could resume driving again. I was happy for her, but advised her that her days of driving while talking on her cell phone should be over. "We're better off focusing on one task at a time," I said.

"I have even started putting on my makeup at home, too," she admitted.

I laughed. "No more mascara while looking in the visor mirror at a stoplight. Good choice."

Farewell to Jeanne

For Jeanne Goemer, growing old was as unavoidable as it is for the rest of us. But "acting old" was an option. That's the way her family described her.

Jeanne Goemer hiking at Meeker County's Woodland Park.

Jeanne never wanted to act old. I cross country skied with her until she was 86 years old, and she rode horseback until she was 87. During the summer of 2010, when she was 87, I also went kayaking with her--although it was necessary for me to drag both of the kayaks back up the steep banks after we were done.

She was a stubborn and feisty woman.

As her county commissioner, I knew that a telephone call from Jeanne meant taking action of some kind.

Sometimes the action was pleasant: she wanted me to join her for a swim in Lake Manuella or to go skiing with her at Woodland Park. Perhaps she had an extra ticket to some cultural event and wanted me to go along.

But Jeanne had other, less pleasant, requests. She was often upset about something and wanted me to get after the county park director or the county highway engineer about a maintenance issue she had observed in one of the county parks or along a road right-of-way. Or she had an idea that I should bring up at an upcoming county board meeting.

Jeanne could be very firm about what she thought needed to be done. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Besides horseback riding, skiing, and kayaking, Jeanne was an avid gardener, kept a spotlessly clean house and sang in her church choir. A retired teacher, she was a lifelong learner and world traveler, seeking out educational forums, concerts and tours. She also kept young by cultivating friendships with younger people--I was not the only friend and companion who was 25 years or more her junior. She appeared to take a genuine interest in the hopes and dreams of young people.

Jeanne's one fault was that she lacked the ability to grow old gracefully. She so resisted aging--being in excellent physical condition--that she was unable to accept limitations that come to all of us as we grow older. She fought with family, friends and caregivers, insisting on doing things "her way."

On Saturday I attended Jeanne's memorial service. There were plenty of stories shared about this tireless community and church volunteer whose physical strength, at age 90, had finally failed.

Rest in peace, old friend.

Looking back

The Roman god Janus had two faces, one looking forward, the other backward as the new solar year began.

Likewise we humans tend to look back at the end of the year, to review the year's events and ascertain if any goals we set were accomplished, and to make new goals for the coming year.

Overlook of Sawtooth Mountains, between Ketchum-Sun Valley and Stanley, Idaho.

Highlights of the year were our July camping trip to Idaho and meeting Bob's Swedish 2nd cousin, Mats Jacobsson and his young son Victor, who visited us in August. Bob's other Jacobsson cousins put on a very fun family reunion in his honor, and we got re-acquainted with long-lost kin. While in Idaho, we camped in our old tent with our dog Oscar and found that, with a few minor adaptations, Bob is still able to tent camp after his successful 2011 back surgery.

Canoeing at the Jacobsson family reunion with cousin Mats on the North Fork of the Crow River.

There were also a few lesser, but still significant, events: canoeing the Crow River with my old junior high friend Connie Scott, helping a couple of friends with their political campaigns (one won and the other had fun trying) and working part-time at a local apple orchard this past fall. There were fun visits with grandchildren, get-togethers with friends and the satisfaction of helping a great many people get to their appointments through our county volunteer driver program. I even taught Vacation Bible School again for the first time since my kids were growing up. There is a full freezer and packed fruit cellar shelves to testify to the bounty of my garden.

A report from Bob's surgeon that his 2011 back surgery remains successful, and seeing him regain some of his old strength (although he will have life-long lifting restrictions) was another positive event. He was able to wean himself off a couple of medications which had undesirable side effects, so that was a plus as well. My health, too, received a good report when I passed a couple of diagnostic tests with good scores. As my doctor said, "Keep doing what you're doing."

In looking back, I see that I had a few goals that WERE completed: reading the King James Bible and completing a single-bed quilt for my youngest grandchild, who was outgrowing her crib.  I also planted 60 small trees in the yard and finished most (but not all) of my side-hill landscaping project.

Some of the other goals: well, not so good. There are a bunch of uncompleted projects around the place. The weight loss goal was not achieved. A few of the things I set out to accomplish did not take place.

There were also disappointments over which I had no control: the deaths of several friends and colleagues, disappointing political events and tragedies around the globe, part-time positions for which I applied but was not selected, things I did my best on which did not succeed.

One forgets how much of one's identity is wrapped up in whatever job one has. As a retiree, I am still sorting out exactly where I belong in the "big picture" of things. Sometimes it seems like the value of my volunteer work and the stuff I do around the house is not as significant as the things I did as a newspaper reporter or as a county commissioner.  But God's ways are not our ways. Pastor has been speaking the past couple of Sundays about the various gifts of the Holy Spirit and the parts of the Body of Christ. Each part is essential to the well being of all. We need to keep that in mind as we make plans for 2013.