Volunteering

As early retirement started to become attainable I began thinking about how I could use my skills and experience to make a difference with local charitable organizations. The advent of Covid-19 caused me to pause for a while. Recently I re-visited the idea and contacted a friend who is the CEO of a local community organization.

My intent was to see if there was a need for project-related skills, as I knew the organization had a lot of expansion plans before Covid hit. To my surprise, and delight, she told me that they have never been busier and they have a large project underway. While expecting opportunities, I was not expecting to jump right into a project. It felt good, and a little scary. While I am grateful for the immediate opportunity to put my professional skills to use for a good cause, it is a bit scary to use them in a new area and with a team of top-notch individuals from their respective fields. Having that little tinge of stress is a good sign as it means this will be a situation that will stretch me and help me learn and grow.

It caused me to go back to review material I haven’t looked at in a while to refresh myself on some key tools and concepts. This project also enables me to use some tools I learned right before I retired. Pretty cool to get to use them in the real world and it reminded me of how connected things are in our lives. Going back over the material has helped me to see some of it in a new way as I apply it to this project and it has spurred questions that I would not be equipped to ask if not for having learned and practiced these tools and methods earlier in my career.

I’m looking forward to this new role and the opportunity to work with key people in their fields to make a difference in people’s lives and potentially change the way things work in the area we are addressing. It will be a learning experience for me. A bonus to keep my brain sharp and give me a new sense of purpose – both important things in retirement, as it is easy to sink into boredom and become detached from the world once you stop working, especially in the current world climate.

While you may not be ready to be out and about while Covid lurks, there are many ways you can get involved in your community and with local charities without exposing yourself to conditions you are not comfortable with. The team I am joining is using videoconferencing for meetings and a work-share application for project documents. Most charitable organizations have adapted to these strange times in similar ways, to protect their volunteers and those they serve. So take the plunge and see how you can become a volunteer to make a difference in people’s lives. Volunteering will help you as much as you help others.