When we're not working with our clients as personal assistants to seniors, Team 5 Star enjoys volunteering in our local community.
Last fall we volunteered to raise money for and joined in the Walk to End Alzheimers at Alton Baker Park in Eugene, Oregon. Click here for information about Walk to End Alzheimers 2023.
This spring members of our team volunteered to help mulch and beautify the entrance of a gem of a local park - Wallace M Ruff Jr. Park here in Springfield, Oregon. It is a 10-acre park, the largest Magnolia arboretum west of the Mississippi. It is managed by Willamalane Park and Recreation. To find volunteer opportunities with Willamalane, click here.
According to the Mayo Clinic, "research has shown that volunteering offers many health benefits, especially for older adults, including: improving physical and mental health, providing a sense of purpose and teaches valuable skills, and nurturing new and existing relationships." Volunteering as a group is great for team building too! Volunteering is an altruistic opportunity to serve others without expecting anything in return other than the blessing that comes from finding purpose and the reward of seeing the benefit to others.
A great resource for finding volunteer opportunities is through AARP's website. A Google search will yield a myriad of organizations seeking volunteers. Search by county, city, or state. If you have a particular skill or passion include that in your volunteer search. Find opportunities to volunteer that work with your availability and physical ability.
Here are 12 inspirational quotes about volunteerism:
“Wherever you turn, you can find someone who needs you. Even if it is a little thing, do something for which there is no pay but the privilege of doing it. Remember, you don’t live in the world all of your own.” – Albert Schweitzer
“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t need a college degree to serve… You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time, they just have the heart.” – Elizabeth Andrew
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
“Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another.” – Erma Bombeck
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” – Oscar Wilde
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands — one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.” – Audrey Hepburn
“Volunteering is the very core of being a human. No one has made it through life without someone else’s help.” – Heather French Henry
“Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action. These actions shape and mold the present into a future of which we can all be proud.” – Helen Dyer
“Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe