It’s a wonderful time of year when many of our thoughts turn to helping others. With all the joy and positive memories surrounding the winter holidays, many look to volunteering to give back a little to their community. For your elderly loved one, volunteering at this time of year might be what she wants to pass on her blessings to others. Volunteering not only offers your loved one the opportunity to pass on goodwill, but it can also help her if she’s not feeling all of the cheer of the holidays. If she receives snowbird services, they can help her through the process.
Big or Small, Volunteering Helps those Being Served, and the Volunteer
Your loved one doesn’t have to plan on spending endless days serving, it can be something as short as an hour here or there. It also doesn’t have to cost her a dime. Many volunteer opportunities need her time, not her money, and for many seniors, time is one thing they have plenty of. The simple act of serving can benefit your elderly loved one in many ways.
Three Benefits of Volunteering
It provides purpose. Your elderly loved one may wonder what she has to offer the world anymore. Volunteering can help her find that purpose again. If she’s a greeter at a hospital or place of faith, she can welcome people in and make them feel comfortable. If she has crafting or other artistic skills, she might use them to provide items for others. A sewer might make blankets for new moms, or a painter might help to spruce up walls at a local shelter. By serving in such ways, your loved one will feel an increase in her self-worth as well as her self-esteem.
It benefits both mental and physical health. Volunteering usually means keeping busy for a while and focused on an activity both mentally and physically, so it can take your loved one away from whatever worries her when she’s home alone. Volunteering often lowers feelings of depression and isolation in seniors because they get to focus on someone else’s needs for a while or it gives them a new perspective on the positive aspects of their lives. By reducing stress levels, volunteering can have a positive effect on many of her physical ailments as well such as high blood pressure.
It connects her to the community. Isolation can be painful for many elderly who no longer know how to connect with their community without their family nearby or a spouse. Volunteering outside of the home will naturally increase the social interactions she has with others and if she’s serving at a place that offers service she’s interested in (like a theater or museum), she could find herself making new friends who have common interests. Those new friendships can continue long after volunteering and help her stay connected.
Her Snowbird Services Team Can Help Her Volunteer
If your loved one wants to volunteer but doesn’t have transportation to get to the location, a snowbird services provider can help with transportation so that she can get there and back safely. A snowbird services provider can also help her find local serving opportunities and get her signed up for them if that step of the process is difficult for your loved one. They can help with whatever stumbling blocks she might come across as she works toward finding a volunteer location that is right for her.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Snowbird Services in Fox Chapel PA, please contact the caring staff at Extended Family Care Pittsburgh today. Call 412-241-7292
Extended Family Care Pittsburgh is a Trusted Home Care Agency in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania including Allegheny County, Beaver County, Butler County, Fayette County, Mercer County, Washington County, North Hills, South Hills, Fox Chapel, Monroeville, Murrysville, Oakland, Plum Boro, and Squirrel Hill.
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