Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Celebrate the new year by volunteering
A new year — an opportunity to try something new. How about volunteering and giving your time to those in need?
The most gratifying feeling we can have is to know that our lives are making a difference by improving the circumstances of someone less fortunate. Really helping someone else is a powerful feeling that resonates deeply and has an enduring effect.
Volunteering strengthens ties to the community and exposes us to other people who share common interests. It’s a great opportunity to do something you’re passionate about or try something completely new. Helping others can improve our own outlook on life, help with depression and it can strengthen your immune system.
Today’s volunteer opportunities are varied and rewarding. A great place to start exploring is through RSVP, an organization that is aware of needs in local communities and has been placing volunteers for more than 40 years throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. The organization has created several unique programs that address the needs of some of our area’s most vulnerable residents.
RSVP hosts ongoing information sessions to expose adults to hundreds of worthwhile and important volunteer choices. Sessions are held throughout Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties and outline the varied possibilities:
• A mentoring program matches a caring adult with an at-risk student, providing them with a lasting impression of what a stable and supportive relationship can provide.
• Adults are counseled on the best available health care coverage for their particular health issues by state-trained Medicare counselors.
• Literacy programs provide support and guidance Volunteer Linda Belinsky reads with students. to students as young as 4 years old and to adults as old as 90.
• Homebound seniors receive help with daily tasks that most of us take for granted, often providing the only assistance and social interaction they receive.
• STEM professionals visit classrooms to inspire students to explore diverse careers through hands-on presentations.
• Volunteer tutors work with disadvantaged high school students and low-income veterans preparing to enter college to increase math proficiency via virtual sessions, perfect for corporate employees who can tutor from their work computer, even while traveling for business.
• Nonprofits are able to expand their capacity to reach more community members efficiently with the guidance of volunteer executive consultants.
• Volunteers dedicate their time to support historic sites and nature preserves, hospitals and hospices, museums and libraries, cultural organizations, crisis hotlines, food pantries and many other agencies.
Jacqui Baxter, RSVP’s director of community engagement, describes the sessions, saying, “We welcome adults to attend and learn about current needs in their local communities. Our goal is to highlight varied opportunities, and based on the individual’s interests and time constraints, we help craft the best match. Our staff provides training, resources, ongoing support and gratitude.”
Volunteering should be rewarding and stimulating. Recent feedback from RSVP volunteers confirms that is the case.
Mentor Charles Brown said, “Helping others simply makes me feel better. I feel I’m held in higher esteem by my neighbors as many of them know that I am a mentor and an elementary school reading volunteer.”
He recommended, “Consider your volunteering as an investment. First, you’ll be truly helping others, but you’ll benefit by feeling better about yourself, have a more active and stimulating life and you’ll probably make new friends.”
Nancy Morris selected the Medicare counseling program APPRISE.
She relayed, “I was very frustrated by the complexity of Medicare as I was selecting a plan for myself. I went to an RSVP session to see what volunteer opportunities existed in our community. I thought that if I could help another senior navigate the Medicare system and avoid all that I went through, I would be happy to lend my time and knowledge.”
Mary Lou Reich reads to preschoolers. After she retired from teaching, she felt that volunteering at a Head Start classroom was a good transition.
She said, “It’s fun to read to the students and let my inner actress take over. I get hugs and smiles which make my day. I’ve also enjoyed watching the children blossom, grow and become prepared to enter kindergarten.”
For seven years, Steven Harris has been a reading coach for elementary school students.
He said, “I love what I do with RSVP. I can’t understand why more people don’t do it. I like volunteering in a school because it allows me to take off during the summer. I read with the students who are falling behind and provide about 15 minutes of private tutoring. Feeling appreciated is one of the biggest highlights, right up there with being needed.”
To learn about volunteering through RSVP or to find an upcoming Volunteer Information Session, visit rsvpmc.org or call 610-8341040 ext. 123.