As volunteers, seniors are everywhere, the backbone of our society, providing constant extra support for public and social services. You can find dedicated senior volunteers in churches, hospitals, libraries, and support lines, among their many locations. They’re there at food banks, taking in and handing out food, and at the Red Cross, helping to manage equipment loans and providing support. Many seniors organizations get together to collect donations and provide support for charities, including children’s hospitals. Their love and dedication for others makes a fierce impact in every organization that they touch. “Baby boomers and senior adults contributed more than 1 billion volunteer hours in 2010.”1
As family members, seniors are the mature, wise roots to the family tree. They provide emotional support, wisdom from the past, and guidance for the newer generations. Everyone knows a senior who can tell a good yarn, and it’s these stories that teach the younger generations life lessons of past and present. Grandparents provide a second set of guardians and role models for their grandchildren, who will relish those memories for years to come of time spent with Grandma or Grandpa. The government of Canada has even provided a couple of unique ways you can thank a senior, and this digital postcard is a fun and simple way for those computer minded seniors to receive a thank you from someone who appreciates them! Visit: http://www.seniors.gc.ca/eng/pie/nsd/postcard.shtml and you can send a postcard to a senior you’d like to thank for their contributions. The postcard is free.
While National Seniors Day is just one day a year that we recognize the importance of seniors in our community, it is every day that we can stop and thank a senior for the impeccable and important work they do. Buy your local volunteer a coffee, or bring a special treat to the senior volunteers of your local hospital, food bank, or other places they provide support to. Give your grandparent, or parent, a warm hug and a thank you for just being who they are. Spend time with a senior, and relish in their good company while they appreciate yours.
At Aquassure we recognize the importance of seniors in our community, and have witnessed firsthand the way they impact our community, province, and country through the endless support they provide. To seniors, we say a big thank you! We appreciate everything you do.
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Sources
1: http://volunteer.ca/content/volunteering-and-older-adults-final-report