We all know that volunteering is great for the community and can make you feel good too, but did you know there are increased benefits to volunteering as you age?
A study in January 2025, published in the Social Science & Medicine journal, stated that volunteering can not only make you feel younger, it can also help block the aging process and increase both mental and physical health. Volunteering was associated with lowered chronic inflammation, lowered hypertension, reduced stress, and increased cognitive function and ability to perform daily functions.
Other benefits of volunteering include:
Allows you to follow a passion instead of working to just “pay the bills.”
Gives a sense of purpose and meaning, which as psychology professor Nadine Kaslow says, “Having a purpose provides an intrinsic motivation to adopt healthy behaviors as we age, which will help us to achieve positive health outcomes”
Reduces loneliness and feelings of isolation as you build community through shared experiences with fellow volunteers & participants
Gets you moving, which also improves sleep, blood pressure, risks of dementia, heart disease & several types of cancer
Allows you to control of your own schedule
Boosts self-esteem & feelings of self-worth
Can be done remotely if you have limited mobility or travel options
Lots of options available— Find volunteer opportunities directly within your community, or do an online search for organizations across the globe
Go at your own pace— You decide how much you want to do and when
Share expertise you’ve gained over the years & help others to live up to their potential while developing intergenerational bonds
Shifts your focus outward, fostering empathy, new things to learn, connection, and creating a broader & more inclusive perspective to enrich our lives
Brings joy and makes a difference in the lives of others!
Coburg Village residents Ed & Francine Rodger know well the benefits of volunteering. They’ve been involved in the community since they moved to Clifton Park in 1966. They wanted to make a contribution and find a way to meet people and do something interesting. Volunteering allowed them to do that and so much more.
“We take so much from our society, and I think it’s important that we give something back,” says Ed. “And that would be our time and effort and thought.”
Their work began with establishing a library here in Clifton Park. “Libraries had always been a part of my life, from walking to my local branch in Brooklyn and working in the libraries at Cornell University,” says Francine. “So when we came to the area, I looked for a library but found there were none.” Initially, she traveled down to the Colonie Town Library, but in 1968, they banded together with other local residents to start a library here in Clifton Park. At the time, the area was still largely rural and didn’t even have a supermarket, but many young families were moving to the area, and the demand for a library increased.
They established the Shenendehowa Free Library Association to create a plan to fit the town’s needs. The library started out over the First National Bank & Trust Co., but it quickly outgrew the small space. Over the years, it moved to various locations as they gained more funds through community campaigns and donations until it finally landed in its current 55,000-square-foot home on Moe Road at the end of 2006. It was a long, but very satisfying journey, and Ed & Francine are still involved with the library to this day.
Ed once read a book that observed when Americans see a need for something, they put together a committee and get it done. “That struck me at the time that that was pretty much what we were doing,” he says. “We put our effort into it, contributed to it, and now we have something we are quite proud of.”
They’ve also been engaged in many other volunteer activities over the years, including the Shenendehowa School Board, League of Women Voters, Senior Center Board, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Town Arts & Culture Committee, CAPTAIN Senior Services Committee, Shenendehowa Neighbors Connecting, Traffic Committee, Girl Scouts, among others.
All of their work has been gratifying, but Francine says one of the nicest and most satisfying activities they did was their work with the American Field Service hosting foreign exchange students. Over the years, they housed four students in their home and still are quite close with them to this day; their families often visiting together when they can. Their own children also participated in the foreign exchange program and studied abroad in France, Germany, and Greece.
Ed and Francine say that volunteering allows you to get back what you give tenfold. It’s an altruistic act, but personal satisfaction comes with it, too. You gain so much from the people you work with, and it’s a great way to meet other people and think about issues beyond yourself. It expands your horizon and allows for a great deal of personal satisfaction to accomplish something tangible.
Their advice for others looking to get involved?
“Just try it,” says Francine. “If you don’t like what you got yourself into, excuse yourself and get out of it and find something else. There’s something for everybody, you just may not know what it’s gonna be unless you try it.”
