If you’re like many seniors, you’ve spent decades building careers, raising families, and serving others. Your most impactful years may still be ahead as a volunteer who shepherds and facilitates the community.

“Research has shown that volunteering is associated with improved health and well-being, including increased longevity, adoption of healthy lifestyles, and reduction in depression and stress,” said Habitat for Humanity¹. “The service volunteers provide also goes on to benefit the communities in which they live and serve.”

Volunteer individually, with a friend, as a couple, and as a family. Getting involved and serving is a combination that grows faith and develops relationships.

“You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me… It is more blessed to give than to receive,” (Acts 20:34-35, KJV)

The Value of Volunteering

For Dr. Bob Dettmer and his wife, Sue, what began as casual volunteering at their children’s school and church became transformative. “God calls each of us in a variety of different ways,” Bob said, “frequently through friendships, changing and growing our hearts as we follow Him, occasionally into roles for which we don’t initially feel prepared.”

As their children left for college and began life as adults, Bob and Sue found themselves not winding down but ramping up. Sue returned to school for her master’s in social work, channeling her nursing background into counseling. Bob partnered with other physicians at a local clinic, providing free medical services to those without access to healthcare.

“Living in the same community for nearly 50 years has given us a sense of pride in where we live and a desire to see its most vulnerable protected and cared for,” Bob said. “Volunteering is a wonderful way to express gratitude while strengthening our faith.”

Live Abundantly

Research consistently shows that volunteering benefits the recipients and transforms the volunteers. Seniors who volunteer regularly experience improved health and well-being, including increased longevity, healthier lifestyles, and significant reductions in depression and stress.

“Volunteering is a way of life,” said Sue Dettmer. “Somewhere along the way in the last 40 years, the purpose of volunteering for me shifted from diversion from raising children, to the satisfaction of using professional skills, to volunteering as God’s calling and a way of living.”

Beyond physical health, volunteering offers:

Purpose Beyond Paycheck. When daily work routines end, volunteering provides structure, meaning, and satisfies the deep human need to feel useful and valued.

Social Connection. Loneliness is a growing epidemic among seniors. Volunteering creates organic opportunities for meaningful relationships with people of all ages who share common goals.

Skill Utilization. Decades of professional experience are often vitally needed. A retired banker can manage accounting for non-profits. A former teacher can tutor struggling students. A retired nurse can provide health screenings at community clinics.

Personal Growth. Many volunteers discover new passions and abilities that enrich their lives. Some find their volunteer work leads to entirely new career paths or life directions.

Find Your Perfect Fit

Pat used his banking background to handle accounting for Habitat for Humanity from home. Wendy used her experience as a NICU parent to support other families facing similar challenges providing breast pumps for new mothers and the gift of understanding for worried parents.

Places to volunteer come naturally to some based on background, experience, and skills. The key is to match already existing skills with people or groups who can benefit or notice a need and learn the skills required to meet the need.

• After a career in the military, one man drives adults with special needs to church each week. He also provides transportation for people who need a driver to get to medical appointments.
• Having operated her own salon for years, a beautician meets with women going through cancer treatment. She shows them how to feel better about their appearance by styling their makeup, hats, and wigs.
• A couple coordinates volunteers who daily circulate a cart through the hospital, offering a book to any child who is there. The new book is a welcome comfort for young patients. When prolonged medical challenges leave little funds for books, each child chooses a title from the library on wheels to keep for their own personal library.
• Parents at Trine University established a continuous fund for college students who cannot afford to purchase needed textbooks to complete their education.
• A retired businessman volunteered to mentor those beginning their careers.
• A woman in South Carolina sewed cloth diapers, sanitary napkins, and eyeglass cases for missionaries to distribute in remote areas.
• A group of volunteers in Arkansas trained shelter dogs for search and rescue. Dogs and owners find purpose and relationships in providing an important resource to the community.
• Susan and Greg partnered with Wycliffe Bible Translators to bring the Bible to every language.
• A coffee group collects coats for school children who don’t have winter clothing, and weekly stuff backpacks with food and hygiene products for low-income students to take home over the weekend.
• Thousands have helped share the story of Jesus by volunteering to serve as background on the film series about Jesus Christ called The Chosen.

Close to Home

Some of the most meaningful volunteer opportunities are right in your neighborhood.

Senior Centers often need volunteers who can relate to their clients’ experiences. Reluctant readers showed marked improvement in reading scores from participating in a program that paired students with senior volunteers who had the time and heart to listen as they read aloud.

Faith Communities provide service opportunities from assisting with children’s programs to organizing mission trips. Churches often partner with local organizations to address community needs like homelessness, hunger, and disaster relief.

Hospitals and healthcare facilities welcome volunteers who can provide companionship, assistance with activities, and support for families during difficult times.

Close to Home

Your senior years don’t have to be about slowing down—they can be about speeding up in ways that make a difference. When you volunteer, you’re not just helping others; you’re living the Upliftd life Jesus described in John 10:10, experiencing life “to the full.”

¹ “The Value of Volunteering: Research on the Benefits of Service for Volunteers.” Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity, Accessed February 17, 2026. https://www.habitat.org/stories/value-volunteering#:~:text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20volunteering,which%20they%20live%20and%20serve.

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