Medical studies show volunteering is ‘Good for your health’.
Local organizations like AARP Oregon, provide volunteer opportunities for Oregonians at many local events.
According to the federal agency on service and volunteering, approximately 38.8% of Oregonians volunteer. That amounts to 44.4 hours per resident for a total of 136.7 million hours of volunteer service. The report from volunteeringinamerica.gov shows that 1.10 million Oregonians volunteer their time.
“What these numbers show is that Oregon residents care and participate in in and around their community” shared Melanie Davidson of Medford.
Volunteering is vital to Americans and close to 40% of Oregonians are stepping up to the plate. The Corporation for National and Community Service estimates about 63.4 million Americans, or 26.3 percent of the adult population, gave 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service worth $173 billion in 2010.
Additionally, a study by John Hopkins called ‘Gaining Health While Giving Back To The Community”, went relatively unnoticed, until investigative research on the health benefits of volunteering discovered numerous health studies citing the same findings.
The conclusions in the John Hopkins report recorded various insights,while stating that volunteering is a win-win. The study’s lead author, Linda P. Fried, M.D., director of the Center on Aging and Health at Johns Hopkins, wrote ‘Giving back to your community may slow the aging process in ways that lead to a higher quality of life in older adults.’
Other research groups, including a study by CNCS titled “The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research” have established a strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer.
Comparisons of the health benefits of volunteering for different age groups have also shown that older volunteers are the most likely to receive greater benefits from volunteering, whether because they are more likely to face higher incidence of illness or because volunteering provides them with physical and social activity and a sense of purpose at a time when their social roles are changing. Some of these findings also indicate that volunteers who devote a “considerable” amount of time to volunteer activities (about 100 hours per year) are most likely to exhibit positive health outcomes.
These reports are particularly relevant today as Baby Boomers—the generation of 77 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964— reach the age typically associated with retirement. Based on U.S. Census data, the numbers of volunteers age 65 and older should increase 50 percent over the next 13 years, from just under 9 million in 2007 to more than 13 million in 2020. What’s more, that number can be expected to rise for many years to come, as the youngest Baby Boomers will not reach age 65 until 2029.
Oregonians of all ages looking to engage in volunteering can offer assistance to many organizations including those who serve the 55+ population like AARP Oregon.
Oregon Health News recently spoke with Shelly Buckingham, the Communications & Media Relations Director for AARP Oregon about their upcoming events. They are seeking to recruit and train several volunteers.
“We are excited to be participating as a sponsor in the Portland Sunday Parkways 2013, Buckingham said, “and we will need several community volunteers.” Later in the conversation, the good natured Director at AARP Oregon, even managed to recruit a member of our team, starting with Oregon Health News Editor, Lauren Lane.
“It’s a great organization, and they do so much good for so many”, said Lane.
AARP Oregon is looking to engage AARP Members and non-members alike to help at each of the five Parkways events. Volunteers are needed as: Intersection Superheroes, AARP Booth Volunteers, Intergenerational Walkers/rollers, Group Leaders, and Volunteer Coordinators.The Commitment requires 2 to 4 hours on one or any number of the 5 parkways, with more hours required for group leaders and coordinators. The Portland Sunday Parkways dates are: East Portland on May 12th, Northeast Portland on June 23rd, North Portland on July 28th , Southeast Portland on Aug 25th and Southwest Portland on Sept 29th, 2013.
All volunteers will get the training required to fulfill their role, plus receive a t-shirt, water, and snacks. For more information on volunteering or orientation, email: oraarp@aarp.org
“It takes time, talent and energy to make a difference”, said Doug Martin, a Portland resident who commented that volunteering was something he did with his family, and that he believes helped shape his character.
Oregonians are very caring people,, and approximately 69.1 % of Oregonians do favors for their neighbors, and that sounds like a very healthy number to me.
“Everyone can be great because everybody can serve.”- Martin Luther King Jr.