50+ Volunteering

Beginning the transition out of your primary career presents an exciting opportunity to explore your interests and to share your skills. Our Partner Agencies are eager to work with you as you are able to increasingly give-back to your community through new, meaningful work experiences and civic engagement. Often the skills and experiences you have built during your work career are a true asset to our partners seeking skilled volunteers in areas such as grant writing, web development, landscaping, and construction. We help our Partner Agencies to include opportunities that capture the gifts of the 50+ cohort while offering personal fulfillment and connection. HandsOn is one resource you can utilize to assess your interests in volunteering and to connect with meaningful volunteer opportunities.

Benefits

- Keep your skills sharp
- Sharing your knowledge to help shape new initiatives
- Develop and interact with a new social network -  both personal and professional
- Improve your health – people who volunteer on a regular basis are proven to less likely suffer from heart disease, less likely suffer from depression, visit the doctor/hospital less often, and live over a year longer than non-volunteers
- Be a part of your community while making a positive difference
- Explore new interests and hobbies
- Generate a sense of achievement
- But mostly…..IT FEELS GOOD!

Service that Counts

- Become a board member for a local nonprofit
- Coordinate volunteers for SMART to read books to kids at your neighborhood school
- Join your neighborhood association
- Help plan a fundraising event for a local nonprofit or national organizations such as the American Cancer Association
- Get trained in local disaster response with the American Red Cross
- Become a member of a local service group such as Rotary or Kiwanis
- Write grants for local nonprofits
- Offer consultation services in web design, fiscal management, or team development
- Coach sports through the City or YMCA
- Lead project management efforts in construction or landscaping projects

Marion County RSVP

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) provides opportunities for people 55 and over to make a difference in their community through volunteer service. RSVP volunteers contribute anywhere from a few to over forty hours a week, serving through schools, day care centers, police departments, hospitals and other nonprofit and public organizations to help meet critical community needs. RSVP offers maximum flexibility and choice to its volunteers. RSVP matches the personal interests and skills of older Americans with opportunities to help solve community problems and offers supplemental insurance while on duty, and on-the-job training from the agency or organization where volunteers are placed.  Visit Marion County RSVP.

Center 50+

Center 50+ is powered by volunteers!  Smiling faces greet visitors at the front desk; teach in the computer center; organize trips; and offer their skills to others in many areas, such as woodworking, jewelry-making, exercise, and acting. The Senior Center relies on the service of many people in order to provide the high quality and rich variety of programs, classes, and opportunities for which it’s known.  Visit Center 50+.

For a complete list of volunteer opportunities available through HandsOn, click here!

Volunteers

• Become a Volunteer
• Benefits of Volunteering
• HandsOn Projects
• Photo Gallery
• Volunteer Trainings
  • Mentor 101
  • Volunteer Action Training
  • Youth Volunteer Action Training
• Types of Volunteering
  • Youth Volunteering
  • Family Volunteering
  • 50+ volunteering
  • Court Referrals
  • Pro Bono Volunteering
  • National Days of Service
  • Boards & Committees
• Volunteer Action Alerts
  • February 2010