volunteer

Ready…Set…Volunteer! Veteran Runner Shares Event Secrets

Posted on 10/18/2012 by | Volunteering | Comments

VolunteeringEvery week in America, thousands of people line up to compete in one of the hundreds of running races that happen across the country. One such event happens in the southwest corner of Minnesota, in the town of Worthington, called the Turkey Day 10K. Set around one of the state’s scenic 10,000 lakes, Lake Okabena has been the backdrop of this race for over 30 years. The TD10K got its start back in 1980 when Jerry Fiola, a Worthington native, and …

How To Start Your Own Volunteer Adventure

Posted on 09/20/2012 by | Volunteering | Comments

Travel | VolunteeringWhile showering one Tuesday morning, I had an epiphany. This enlightened thought inspired me to travel through the forty-eight contiguous states in forty-eight weeks doing volunteer, service, and charity work. The main goal was to promote a “service-to-others” lifestyle by lending a hand to people and organizations of all ages, backgrounds, and affiliations. While the “ah-ha” moment came all at once, getting to that point took several months to figure out what I loved to do and how each of …

Visiting Southeast Asia to Seek Solutions to Isolation

Posted on 09/19/2012 by | Volunteering | Comments

Relationships | Volunteering | Your LifeThis is a guest post by Beth Casey. Beth is a program manager for AARP Foundation’s Isolation Impact Area team, which works to combat and prevent isolation in people age 50 and over. The challenges of the developing world are not so different from those faced by Americans age 50 and over, particularly the low-income segment of the 50+. Throughout the world, older adults struggle to live their lives with dignity and purpose – to continue to put food on …

Celebrating Everyday Heroes in Denver

Posted on 08/16/2012 by | Volunteering | Comments

VolunteeringEvery week, volunteer Joe Pells goes to the AARP Foundation Colorado Consumer Fraud Prevention Call Center in Denver and makes about 90 phone calls to warn seniors about financial scams. He’s done this for three years, spoken to nearly 5,000 people and performed more than 500 hours of service. He’s an amazing super-volunteer. Denver’s ABC7 TV station recognized Pells’s dedication, naming him a “7Everyday Hero” earlier this month. The station gives the weekly award to Coloradans who initiate solutions, motivate …

Happy Anniversary, Medicare!

Posted on 07/30/2012 by | Chief Volunteer | Comments

Personal HealthPresident Johnson didn’t hold back when he signed Medicare into law 47 years ago. He said: No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine. No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later years. Everywhere I go as chief volunteer spokesperson for AARP, I run into people who tell me how important Medicare is in real …

Supporting Service at Home, Abroad, and at Any Age

Posted on 07/5/2012 by | Volunteering | Comments

VolunteeringThis post was recently featured in the VolunteerSpot #SummerofService blog campaign. When Donna Berry, 60, stumbled upon Blackmon Road several years ago, she was stunned. She found a neighborhood teeming with children that had no running water, electricity or sewage. Outsiders had taken to calling it “Trash Pile Road.” Donna was astonished that minutes outside of her own neighborhood in North Carolina people were living in such dire conditions. She immediately took it upon herself to make a difference. Eleven …

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