The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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Editorials

June 28, 2009

Our View — Older volunteers vital to community

There’s an untapped amount of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm in town that a local, established service club recognized and decided to put to good use.

The Kiwanis Aktion Club was started here with the intent to give members of the Pathstone assisted-living residents a method in which to keep giving to the Mankato community.

Wilbur Neushwander-Frink, a member of the Downtown Mankato Kiwanis Club, attended a convention where she discovered the existence of the only Kiwanis group in an assisted-living facility. She brought the idea back to Mankato, and now we have our own such club.

The formation of the new club is a win-win for all involved. Pathstone residents have a way to contribute to the community and be social, and the community receives valuable volunteer help. Already its 18 or so members packaged more than 6,000 meals for Kids Against Hunger. Future projects may include working with high school students and the Key Club, the college student version of Kiwanis at Minnesota State University.

Every community that has a high quality of life has a rate of volunteerism, and it’s an added benefit when unique methods are used to get more people involved. That may mean providing transportation, bringing work to the volunteer, or just providing a bit of extra help and support.

Older adults, age 55 and older, have been increasing their volunteer activities through the last three decades nationally, going from 14.3 percent in 1974 to 23.8 percent in 2006, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In this region the Foster Grandparents program helps kids in the classrooms at Kennedy and Franklin schools. The Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging has trained health insurance counselors. And Retired and Senior Volunteer Program or RSVP offers numerous volunteer opportunities in the area. And that’s just scratching the surface when it comes to older adults giving their time in the community.

Extending opportunities to the growing population of assisted-living residents makes sense. Older volunteers are a rich resource in this area, and this new club also gives them a chance to enrich their own lives.

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