7 Tips for Finding Right Volunteer Work

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Volunteering is the next step for me to begin a new career or job. Now that I don't have to work so much I actually miss it and now see it as a gift. A opportunity to give and receive and be out in the world. I wish I had done this at the very beginning of my work years; doing things that made me happy and had purpose rather then just for the money.
The obstacle has been trying to find guide lines or rite of passage into retirement aside from receiving Social Security.
I'm one of those fortunate seniors ( 67 yrs ) who do not look my age( 29 yrs younger) have perfect health and do not take any medicine, workout and take yoga classes. So its been difficult to identify with seniors my age or younger. I do think being gay is a minor factor but also a positive one; that of still ahve a sense of play and youthful attitude.

Albert Arriola of HI 2:59PM October 31, 2009

69 yrs. experience in the communication industry. Now 88yrs old, learning and contributing to the most recent telecommunications systems being offered to the world.Computer hardware and software,internet,transmission,networking,radar,knowlegeable.
Landed on Omaha beach June 20,1944 rrossed the Rhine. March 1945.
5 combat zones. Responsible for voice,data,multiplexed transmission via wire lines, for IXth Engineer command that built the air strips for the IXth air force, Europen WWII. No hero,just worked hard. Proud of my country and the U.S. private enterprise that contributed much of the communication knowledge to the world.Not proud,but thankful the Grand Architecture of the Universe
gave me so many years. Hopefully a few more.

Bill Sand of IL 1:45PM October 31, 2009

I'll be traveling there with 2 24 year olds in a few days. Any suggestikons about what we should not miss. I'm 61

barb dellesky of OH 9:08AM September 03, 2009

Robert here from VolunteerMatch. Thank you for covering this important story -- I agree it takes some work and time to find the right organization and role. But once your research is done, the chances of a deeply engaging and meaningful experience skyrocket. A few more tools that were overlooked in the article: VolunteerMatch.org now has reviews of volunteer organizations by other volunteers (think: Yelp.com). Just click on the name of each organization to come to their detail pages and you can find out more about them. You can also subscribe to your favorite search parameters as an RSS feed, which ensures it will be easy to keep updated as new opportunities come into the system (we also have a way to do this via email). These are all great ways to make our network of 60,000-plus opportunities work for you. Happy volunteering!

Robert Rosenthal of CA 5:43PM August 07, 2009