With Purpose Success, part 73

Program (www.seniorcorps.org). Senior companions serve adults who need assistance to live independently. They offer companionship, assist with simple chores, and provide transportation. Generally, senior companions are sixty or over and must commit to at least fifteen hours each week. Some training and expense reimbursement is available. But the real benefit to the volunteer is the joy of helping others. 

Here's John Glenn on the subject of retirees giving back: "When I was in space the second time, I was seventy-seven. When I came back I heard from every old folks' organization in the United States. Most of them were just congratulatory things but some of them wanted advice, and my best advice is, I think you do better when you wake up every morning with something you're looking forward to, something productive. Older adults sometimes just sit and do nothing, and I think that's the worst thing they can do. They've had a lifetime of experience. They've had education. They've had on-the-job training. They've been business executives. 

They've been farmers. They spend a lifetime learning how to do these things. I don't think it has to end. At the least we can have people who take these experiences and use them to mentor young people, advising and counseling them so that maybe they don't have to make some of the same mistakes we made in getting through our own lives. "A mentor gets a lot of satisfaction. They're doing something constructive, so they feel good about that, and when they see the results with the young people they're working with it's very, very rewarding. 

Also, they have a feeling that their own experiences aren't just ending because they're old. They're able to sort of provide a new base through their own experience; they provide a new base for a young person to start from and that gives you a great deal of satisfaction." 

Faith-based programs. Religious organizations account for 43 percent of all volunteers who mentor youngsters and thus are a major force in this movement. Much of their effort centers on spreading their philosophy and reinforcing their values. These can be gratifying outlets for folks who share the same religious zeal as the organization. 

Some years ago one of my former executives at Age Wave, Mark Gold- stein, rediscovered his faith. Mark is a terrific public speaker with a deep understanding of how to craft marketing plans to appeal to maturing boomers. But his life changed after his mother's death. He began attending temple more regularly and started requesting private visits with his rabbi. While attending these sessions, he couldn't help but notice that the services and programs seemed to be out of touch with the middle-aged men and women in the community. One day he was asked to speak at a gathering of Jewish leaders, and he talked about the fact that many boomers were turned off by organized religion and how congregations might approach this generation to reengage their faith. The audience loved him, and now he spends most of his time counseling Jewish leaders on how to better appeal to a new generation of congregants. He has become a marketing guru for a nonprofit sector, all based on the knowledge and skills he learned during the course of his primary career.