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Successful Aging - Archived Article
2001 - International Year of Volunteers
On November 20, 1997, the United Nations General Assembly formally passed a resolution declaring 2001 to be the International Year of Volunteers (IYV). The premise underlying IYV 2001 is that more volunteer service is needed to address the social, economic, cultural, and humanitarian concerns facing countries worldwide. Effectively, but without much notice, volunteers have given billions of hours of service to their communities over the past few years.
How does our own community measure up in terms of volunteerism? We are part of a quiet revolution that's been going on all over America. And volunteerism has been a part of Broome County culture for a long time.
There is nothing new about charity. Humans have dispensed it more or less freely to those less fortunate since biblical times.
But what's going on in Broome County is a little different from charity. It is a common-sense, roll-up-your-sleeves approach to local problems. Residents of Broome County have a genuine concern for those less fortunate, as witnessed by the 67,000 hours donated by 1,017 Office for Aging volunteers in the year 2000.
The value of volunteerism is much more than the value of the labor that is donated. However, in an effort to quantify the importance of volunteering, the Points of Light Foundation considers an hour of volunteer service as being equivalent to $14.30 in wages. According to this statistic, our dedicated Office for Aging volunteers donated the equivalent of $958,100 to this community last year!
The elderly, especially those over 85 years of age, is the fastest growing age group, both nationwide and in our local community. Office for Aging volunteers--who include people of all ages--provide services that cover a broad spectrum of need. From friendly visiting, to delivering meals, to simple home repairs to accounting and legal services, they have the talent and make the time to help others. Broome County has a proud tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, and today this volunteer spirit is needed more than ever before.
For example, Meals-on-Wheels plans to add four new routes in the Binghamton area. This means we need eight more volunteers per day, or forty more volunteers per week, just to cover the basics. That doesn't take into consideration days when for one reason or another, a volunteer can't be there.
As Gandhi said: "The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others." Won't you consider helping?
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Kathleen Morrow at Broome County Office for Aging at 607.778.2411.