Some likely volunteers just wantto be asked

In thinking about all this, I’ve had a revelation (more on that later).

My search found that 52 hours a year is the average contribution of volunteer time. Only 29 percent of us make that much time available in any given year. I found something else — older adults, defined as people over 65, the ones that seem more likely to have 52 hours a year available for volunteering — don’t.

Well, to be entirely fair, some do volunteer, and may give significantly more than 52 hours a year when they do. But national data indicate volunteering by people over 65 is on the decline.

Why is that, do you suppose? We have these aging boomers who, one would think, have time for this very kind of helping. When I look to information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for answers about what detracts older adults from volunteering, it suggests things like medical conditions, transportation challenges, preferences for donating time to activities more in their own self- interest.

But when I talk to older adults, many seem ready to offer themselves if needed. They’re needed. Maybe they just need to be asked?

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And that’s my revelation. It came after reading a newspaper story about a local teacher who volunteered to become a foster parent. I don’t know this teacher-volunteer but I am a Lunch Buddy mentor (there’s my one hour a week) in the school where she teaches and I am aware of the spilling-over-into-the-halls student population and the incredible challenges she faces on a daily basis and now, voluntarily, takes into her home. This teacher-volunteer was asked to perform what seems to me the ultimate act of compassion. I salute her — and other teachers like her who agreed to volunteer, not 52 hours a year, but 52 weeks a year.

An even greater revelation is the conversation I had with an 80-something woman, a resident of an assisted-living facility who had long volunteered as a greeter at the visitors bureau. Age, blindness and mobility issues were making that more and more difficult. She wanted to know what else she might do. She was "hoping to be asked." What if she had been asked to spend one hour a week making reassurance calls to check on (and cheer) more isolated age peers? What if every resident of a long-term care facility were asked to do that?

I realize the kind of volunteerism I’m referring to can require more "heavy lifting" (in an emotional sense) than the activities you may be typically drawn toward. And I know that you’re probably already very busy.

But, in case you’re waiting to be asked, I’m asking.

Check the Volunteer Opportunities section of the Monday Mail Tribune to get a list of organizations (people) that need you.

Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at s.johnson@oregonstate.edu.