According to a recent edition of AARP Bulletin, a national media campaign will begin next year to encourage baby boomers across the nation to volunteer more. Boomers, the article says, « have the potential to become an immense social resource. »
The campaign, sponsored by the Harvard School of Public Health, will be launched in January when the first of the boomers turn 60. As a result of ads, events, and a guide to retirement transition, there should be a dramatic rise in volunteerism among the baby boom generation.
One boomer has taken this quest personally. When Marsha Jordan, of Harshaw, Wisconsin, found herself with an empty nest, she invested her time and emotion into a worthwhile project. She founded a non-profit charity to help critically ill children experience a little more joy and hope.
Jordan didn’t set out to create a nation-wide network of over 2500 volunteers; but her hobby of sending cheery mail to sick kids meant so much to the families she corresponded with, that she created a web site asking others to send smiles to kids who have little to smile about. Thus, the Hugs and Hope Club for Sick Children was born. ( www.hugsandhope.org )
Now in it’s fifth year, the 501(c)3 charity has provided hundreds of balloon bouquets and birthday parties for children in hospitals as well as thousands of cards and gifts each month. The organization also grants wishes and provides a 24-hour online chat group for the parents of sick kids.
What makes this volunteer opportunity unique, says Jordan, is that, « anyone of any age or ability can participate. Grandmothers in their nineties can send notes to sick kids, and preschoolers can mail hand-made cards. » For those who wish to do more, opportunities abound. There are many Hugs and Hope programs to choose from, including the Parent Pals program, which pairs volunteers with parents of sick children in need of ongoing encouragement. The pal sends notes or emails two or three times a week just to remind the mom or dad that someone cares and is thinking of them.
One of the group’s most popular volunteer programs is the Elf Project. Hundreds of volunteers sign up each Fall to adopt a child for the holidays. Each « elf » is given information about their adopted child, as well as the child’s wish list. Volunteers enjoy making the holidays merrier for these kids, some of whom won’t live to see the next Christmas.
The Hugs and Hope Club can always use more hug givers and hope builders, so if you’re a boomer with an empty nest, your heart need not be empty too. There are suffering little ones out there in need of encouragement, and you can provide it! It takes only a moment to drop a card in the mail, but it can make a child’s day. Visit the Hugs and Hope web site ( www.hugsandhope.org ), read about these kids who are battling for life, and volunteer a few moments of your time to put more joy into their lives. The smile you create just might be your own.
All of the above text is a press release provided by the quoted organization. globalagingtimes.com accepts no responsibility for their accuracy.