First things first….acknowledging that our new home state of Tennessee is the “Volunteer State”- 1500 volunteers from the Tennessee militia set off to fight against the British during the War of 1812, followed by a similar effort supporting Texas during the Mexican War. And it’s “Go Vols” for the University of Tennessee during college football season. So the word “volunteer” is pretty popular in this state.
This is a revisit of Post #16 from barely a year ago. It was a short post which didn’t get much of a response from blog visitors. Back then we were a month into the new home construction, and I was going through a variety of possible retirement options. A year later, we’re retired, have been in the new home four months now, and we just got the landscaping done (OK, 95% there), so it no longer looks like a construction site. Will attach a picture next week, I promise.
And as the title hints, following up this post with one on hobbies. Carrying a theme here.
Similar to part time work (post #40), there are all sorts of options to volunteer in this area. I’m still in that first six months of both retirement and living in a new location, so most of the effort has been reading, visiting, observing, asking questions, etc., to get to know the area and see what the real needs are, where the most impact can be made, and where my interests lie.
- There are several Fairfield Glade governing boards run by volunteers for this community of just over 9000 residents, including lots of really smart people with considerable leadership experience manning those boards. Based on what I’ve seen, it’s a well-run community, and board positions are always opening up.
- There’s a resident services organization which helps the more senior (and less able) residents get to appointments, assists them in getting some of life’s basics done, and generally make sure they have help where/when they need it.
- Within Fairfield Glade there’s an assisted living senior care community called Good Samaritan for in a beautiful location overlooking the local mountains. There are volunteer positions advertised for this facility.
- Outside of the retirement community, seven miles away, is the town of Crossville, population just under 12,000, spreading out with lots of small businesses, but also with a significant low-income population. Thus there are numerous supporting organizations run by volunteers. Besides the local Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity offices, there are dozens of food pantries, relief services, etc. run by churches and secular groups.
- Several libraries and local museums depend on volunteers.
- I haven’t checked out the local hospital to see if there are volunteer slots (hospitals are not my favorite place to hang out). But there are several medical follow up facilities that depend on volunteer forces to provide services.
- Nor have I checked out local schools for volunteer positions.
What am I missing WRT community-related volunteer opportunities?
Appreciate your insight.
Mike,
I think you have hit the major types of volunteer opportunities.
Tied in with hobbies and family life (parents, children) and any commitments (if any), how much time do you want to devote to each area. Family items pop up (unscheduled)(babysitting, care, moving assistance, work items) and are in addition to routine visits to see them. After years of working, you should take time for yourself for hobbies and travel. and then time you have left can be spent on volunteer items. A caution: some volunteer work becomes another “job” because you will fine that no one else wants to do it (some community leadership positions…once you are in them, no one wants to take your place when you are ready to leave…leaving you stuck.
Two cents,
Don
Hi Don, yeah, that’s worth more than your two cents worth. Thanks for your thoughts. I want to update that post with your comments about the pop up family items. I know in the very near term I’ll be needing to help my parents move into assisted living and that will be a couple days commitment. Appreciate your comment on the volunteer work that creeps up to a job- I experienced that during my working days.
Hope you and Dottie are doing well (I always forget whether it’s Dotty or Dottie, sorry).