Giving blood is a worthy endeavor! Tis a good reminder that I’ve not done so in a very long time.
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Well, at least you aren’t taking blood.
Blood donation is important.
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DH and I gave blood regularly until we could not longer - me due to cancer and DH due to blood thinner medication and prior medications.
For those that can give blood or other (platelets, etc.) - terrific to do so!
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I can’t give because they say they can’t take from medically frail, which I guess I am.
I have a friend who gives platelets regularly. I think it takes him a couple of hours every time.
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I have been thinking about what I would do after retirement. I don’t have any hobbies or talent. 
Recently I read on this thread about taking some courses at a local college. I looked into it and found out in NYC I could audit a lot of classes for free at CUNY, SUNY, even at NYU (some are not free). As a STEM major, I stayed away from history, poli sci or art history classes in fear of brining down my GPA. As I get older, I find I am very interested in those subjects and would like to be more educated on those subjects. I think it would be fun to audit one or two courses a semester. A lot less pressure of learning for the sake of learning.
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I am about to become certified as a suicide hotline crisis counselor. The training has been lengthy and intense, but it’s an activity that is very meaningful to me.
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@oldfort also check out OLLI for courses
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I have a family member who works at The School of Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC - they have continuing education classes - you don’t have to be a creative and some of them are actually sort of business oriented.
And no offense but universities - especially art schools - are going to have to get creative in their offerings to remain open so there may be more of this type of offerings coming in the pipeline.
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Thank you 
I really had to apply a few places to find a volunteer spot, so I warn others that it might not be as simple as we think. I live in a town w a LOT of retirees, which creates lots of volunteers, more than every place needs. When I was working I volunteered at a local garden as a docent, but it was surprisingly stressful even if it matched my skills/interests. So I stopped. Sang in a huge choir, then it became fundraisers and multiple concerts so I stopped.
I was a librarian, and had to wait 14 months for a volunteer spot at the library. I sort books coming in the bookdrops and it is gloriously zen, plus children often like to see where the book goes. But the staff pretend volunteers do not exist and I work solo , so not much social interaction my own age.
I volunteer at the food bank sorting produce. This is a very gregarious friendly bunch of people and the work is more physically demanding . They had space for me pretty fast, and I have as much socializing as I want, so it has been really nice.
Two mornings a week is about right for me. DH is thinking about what he might want to offer the world in a few years.
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I have taken some OLLI courses since before even moving to Nashville as they went to virtual classes during the pandemic. Here they continue to have some delivered virtually, but probably a little more than half are in person. I’m starting this year’s version of the Great Decisions class in the middle of March and very much looking forward to it. We had a number of incredible guest speakers last year including the retired Brigadier General of the 101st Airborne discussing the importance of NATO along with another retired military officer who is now law school faculty. Another week we had a retired diplomat who negotiated peace for Bosnia in the '90s. There are many fascinating people here locally with a depth of knowledge on global issues.
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Several years ago, when I was between part time jobs, I started looking for local volunteer opportunities to keep me busy. I applied to many places, including attending a training session at a local Dress for Success location, and nobody wanted me. It was very discouraging, I wanted to help and couldn’t get a foot in the door anywhere. Luckily, a local historic site, which my daughter had volunteered at as a teen, was happy to have me help. This was in NJ.
I am now in MA. It seems like the local food pantry is the place where all the seniors volunteer (there are also a few shelving at the local library). There is a law (town or state?), where if you are over 65 and volunteer a certain number of hours, you get monetary credit on your real estate taxes.
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I volunteer at a philanthropic farm, mostly in the spring /summer for planting and harvesting. But his is a new opportunity I will do in March!
The 2025 Mushroom Log Inoculation “Party”
Wed, March 19 at 9 AM - 11 AM (2 hours)
12 slots remaining
This is the experience that you all have been waiting for - the 2025 Mushroom Inoculation “Party”. At this event you will be drilling holes into logs and inoculating them with shitake mushroom spores. This is a fun experience held indoors at community tables so you will also be able to hold conversations with other like-minded individuals while you inoculate away. Our community kitchen partners cannot get enough of these mushrooms, so we are increasing our production of these delicious fungi by 50%. We couldn’t do it without your help. Thank you.
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yes, it is discouraging! Lots of places say they want volunteers, but have no process for onboarding. I had hoped to help at a nursing home and they just didn’t have anything ready or anyone willing to help get volunteers in. Local medical charity only wanted very specific people
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Love my local biweekly drive thru food pantry volunteer gig. Usually I do the Tues drive through line, loading from cart to trunk. (Gives me about 2 miles of walking on the “circuit” to load/unload, plus upper body exercise). Sometimes also Monday produce packing. Their online signup system is fabulous, allows me to do signup as schedule permits… no regular commitment (ie don’t need to find backup if I travel etc). Last time was brutally cold, worst in 15 year history. Next time will be 65 degrees - Yay.
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Let’s not blame the non-profits. It’s true someone has to onboard volunteers. And staff is likely already tight. Once volunteers are already onboarded they still need to be supervised to a degree. Often at non-profits the same person doing the onboarding may be the person also writing a grant, doing programming w/clients and who knows what else. While volunteers are desired, there is still a process and people needed to follow through with the process.
Some volunteer positions may be more event-led or seasonable - orgs can’t find a spot for volunteers 12 months of the year.
And as someone who has rounded up and onboarded volunteers I’ll also say it can be a defeating job as many volunteers are not reliable in time or tasks!
So just saying, see both sides.
If you like being outside check into volunteering for your local running club races. They are often scrambling for people to check people in, man water stations, hand out post race snacks, medals - all kinds of tasks! These can also be “one and done” opportunities like for a local marathon.
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Our area companies take all the volunteer spots in our county at the two large food banks - I’d have to drive 45 minutes to the distribution spots with openings. I found a local food pantry & volunteered in December - turned out it was the last distribution because they were out of funding. I’m going to try another local thrift shop/food pantry that I heard about. It really isn’t as easy as it seems - and when you fill out their interest forms, there’s never a “give me a mindless task” option. “I’ll do whatever want” isn’t the same thing!
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What about doing something with/for a cause you care about? Including volunteering for a local candidate or political party, besides things that maybe more easily come to mind.
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I try to see both sides. But if your website is screaming we need volunteers, please help us and fill out this form, then you need to be able to onboard and use them.
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Places that have activity directors like skilled care/rehab, there is an overall administrator that one can check with. Sometimes the activity directors don’t reach out for a variety of reasons, but they also may have a ‘schedule’ of activities and some regular volunteers.
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