volunteering

Celebrating 100 Days of School on the Wall

Posted on 02/12/2013 by Robert Hodder | Washington D.C. | Comments

VolunteeringToday my class of Experience Corps students celebrated their 100th day of school! When I got to school the teacher had placed “100th day of school” signs all over the walls. To celebrate, the children made crowns with a “100” featured prominently on the front, and decorated their headband with 100 hearts, numbers, triangles, dots, letters—whatever they were moved to create. And even if they didn’t get 100 “somethings” down on the paper, when the adults stapled the bands to fit …

Do You Live Each Day with Purpose?

Posted on 02/7/2013 by David Whitehead | Philanthropy & Fundraising | Comments

Volunteering | Your LifeWhen you wake up in the morning, do you think to yourself, “I’m so excited, because today I get to… (fill in the blank)? No? I have teenagers, and on occasions I hear the following proclamation, “I’m bored!” Usually said out loud to the world in general, with only one part (unsaid) that is directed at me: “…and what are you going to do about it?” Boredom, idleness, and lack of motivation can often be linked to a lack of …

A Winter’s Tale: Helping Seniors Weather the Cold

Posted on 01/23/2013 by Laura Hahn | Volunteering | Comments

Caregiving | VolunteeringThere’s a woman who sits in the square outside my office. Her name is Anna, and she’s 92. Her caregiver Magda wheels her there, just a couple blocks from her apartment, so she can feed the birds. Or, as Anna, a lifelong New Yorker, says, “the boyds.” Seeing Anna in the square is like seeing my friend Arthur at the theater. It’s her happy place. She could spend hours there, watching the boyds fly up to the rooftops and down …

AARP Experience Corps Seeks Volunteers in Chicago: Help Kids Learn to Read!

Posted on 01/14/2013 by AARP Illinois | All the news that matters for Illinoisans over 50. | Comments

Your LifeExperience Corps is hosting a series of community conversations in Chicago with AARP members and the general 50+ public from Jan. 18 through Feb. 16. The conversations, which are scheduled for about 1-1/2 hours, will serve to provide those interested with more information on AARP Experience Corps and the work we do with local schools, as well as an opportunity to learn more about volunteer opportunities to work with children in grades K-3 during the 2013-2014 school year. Why volunteer for AARP Experience Corps? Just ask …

Serving others makes you Rich

Posted on 12/19/2012 by Drew Elliot | Volunteering | Comments

Volunteering | Your LifeRecently, I was travelling across the upper plains, when I woke up to the thermometer reading negative 26 degrees. I hadn’t experienced these kinds of temperatures since I lived in Minnesota as a child. Yet, somehow, I forgot that the cold can really sting. I forgot that the weather can change drastically in an instant. I forgot that you don’t sit next to a drafty door in a coffee shop. I simply forgot that Jack Frost is still a formidable …

Gifting Made Easy

Posted on 12/14/2012 by Leigh Anne Tuohy | Volunteering | Comments

VolunteeringAre you starting to feel the anticipation and anxiety of the Holidays? Well are you? No matter how much you plan, prepare, prod the spouse or pout the holiday season still makes most of our blood pressure rise sometimes between December first and the twenty fifth! I have heard of every remedy imaginable to prevent this roller coaster of emotions, but honestly none of them work. However, now after living over a half of a century, I might just have the …