Volunteer work energizes Joyce Swolka, 72, of Middletown

Joyce Swokla, a 72-year-old Middletown resident who has logged more than 5,000 hours of dedicated volunteer and community service, recently won the special senior service award sponsored by Home Instead, a home-care agency. Joyce's name was entered by one of the nurses at Middlesex Hospital where Joyce has volunteered for many years in their Hospice unit. When I interviewed Joyce, she told me she was especially pleased that the award included a $500 donation to her favorite charity, and it came just in time for her to donate to Relay for Life, a cancer fundraiser in which Joyce has been an active participant for many years.
A cancer survivor of two bouts with the disease, herself, Joyce began her volunteer work in 1984 after caring for her ill mother for several years.

"We are all going to age and die one day, so we need to reach out and help one another," Joyce says, and she adds that when she comes home from her volunteer work she feels energized and happy because she knows she has been useful and helped another human being. Joyce is also proof that volunteerism knows no age limits; she is dedicated to her work and as active as ever.

With both mothers and fathers of younger families in the workforce, it is more important than ever that our senior citizens step up and fill the many important jobs that depend on volunteer help.

In our area alone, there are opportunities at Habitat for Humanity, New Haven Reads, Children's Community Programs of Connecticut and many more. You could be a foster parent to a cat or dog, helping them to learn family skills before they are adopted, or you could help the animal shelter by taking videos of animals waiting to be adopted which will appear on YouTube. The Family and Children's Agency in New Haven needs guest speakers who can speak on special topics such as time management or nutrition or give a few classes on yoga, photography or art. The Elder Wisdom Circle offers advice to youngsters while Cross Cultural Solutions will send you overseas to work side by side with people in Latin America or Africa.

You can host a student from another country, for a day or an entire year, you could teach someone to read; the possibilities are endless and exciting. Some computer sites to help you search are Create the Good (AARP's web site for opportunities), Volunteer on Demand, their site offers 15-minute and on-your-vacation opportunities, and VolunteerMatch.org offers free webinars to walk you through the training and screening process. Quite often, volunteering can lead to part- or full-time work, if that is something you might wish to do.

If you are still hesitating about volunteering, here are some quotations that make the case far better than I ever could:

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth." - Muhammad Ali

"I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that. Then I realized, I was somebody." - Lily Tomlin

"A pessimist, they say, sees a glass as half-empty, an optimist sees the same glass as half-full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty".- T. Gale

 Contact Jean Cherni, certified senior adviser for Senior Living Solutions and Pearce Plus, a helpful, full-service program for seniors contemplating a move, at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 49 Rose St. Apt. 510 Branford, 06405.

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