. . . Senior Citizens Become Volunteers

Treasure seekers dig for gold, mine silver and strike oil. But among all our natural resources, the ones numbered among our country’s greatest are volunteers.

Twenty-three million Americans volunteer an average of five or more hours per week, according to the spring, 1986, edition of Volunteer Connections newsletter. What’s more, the newsletter reports, dollar value of their contributed time is estimated to be $65 billion.

Many Reasons

Marion Marshall, who has been a gerontology specialist with the Los Angeles City Schools and recently was honored on her 70th birthday for her role as volunteer at the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council, feels people help others for a variety of reasons:

--They have a strong personal feeling because they, or persons close to them, are affected by the cause.

--Volunteering gives them a chance to meet and interact with new people.

--Their own acquired experiences can be utilized. Or, conversely, the skills learned as a volunteer can also help them in securing paid employment.

--The experiences give them a chance to satisfy some need within themselves.

Age doesn’t matter. Young people respond in gratifying numbers, but it’s the senior population--the RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) in particular--that many feel has become a vital part of our country’s volunteering network.

RSVP, a national program designed for people 60 and older, enables retired people to translate lifetime experiences into meaningful contributions that serve their community.

Achieving Success

You can find them working with the visually handicapped, at hospitals and assisting in schools. One senior volunteer, who tutored a dyslexic child, was thrilled when the student jumped from first to third grade.

A former piano teacher entertains weekly at convalescent homes. A 90-year-old man takes two buses to his assignment at a Veterans Administration hospital.

Some serve meals at nutrition sites, others do office work or answer calls on hot lines. Retired executives often end up on the boards of organizations to which they are assigned. In conjunction with a local hospital, one former nurse organized a seminar of doctors to speak on their specialties.

Funding for RSVP, a 15-year-old program, is provided through a combination of local sponsors, who are either nonprofit organizations or local public agencies, and through the federal government’s volunteer agency--ACTION. For every one of the federal dollars spent, $7.50 of service is generated, according to a 1984 RSVP overview report.

Depending on a volunteer’s interest, there is a variety of activities that can be added to their lives as they act as museum docents or conduct art classes, and their contributions to society are valuable.

Other Rewards

There are other rewards too, such as the tax deductions the IRS allows all volunteers engaged in charitable work. Volunteers are entitled to claim any unreimbursed expenses, such as postage and phone calls. If an organization, such as the Red Cross or a hospital, asks you to buy a uniform that is of no use to you in everyday life, you can claim its costs and even claim the bills from the cleaners. Traveling expenses to any place connected with your volunteering job are also deductible, as long as your assignment does not give you a mileage allowance.

“What you do does count,” Marion Marshall tells volunteers. Marshall remembers with great satisfaction her experience as one of the early volunteers in the American Cancer Society’s breast self-examination program.

Utilizing her skills as an organizer and public speaker and drawing on her interests in preventive health care, Marshall sent out the publicity, ran the films and contacted doctors. The very program on which she worked is the one that is now an accepted procedure in women’s lives.

Her advice to volunteers is simple: “Tell the volunteer director about yourself. Your interests and abilities can often be the clue to where you can be of help.”

The formula works for her in her present volunteer assignment on the Aging Services Committee at Valley Interfaith Council, where she offers her expertise as gerontologist and adult educator.

Volunteers are often asked to assist a cause before they’ve even thought of offering their services, but for you who wish to make the first move, a phone call will get you to the person in charge of volunteers.

For those 60 years and older who wish to work through RSVP, which offers assignments at a variety of locations, call the director of volunteers in your area at one of the RSVP offices listed below:

Los Angeles

All Peoples Community Center, 822 East 20th St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90011, (213) 747-6357 or (213) 747-6358.

Eastmont Community Center, 701 S. Hoefner Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90022, (213) 726-8884.

Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks, 6501 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90028, (213) 461-4363.

Jewish Centers Community Assn., 5870 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90036, (213) 938-7239.

Volunteer Center of Los Angeles, 621 S. Virgil Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90005, (213) 736-1300.

Other Locations

Joslyn Senior Center, 1301 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, Calif. 91510, (818) 953-9503.

Culver City Parks and Recreation Dept., 4153 Overland Ave., Culver City, Calif. 90230, (213) 559-5088.

City of Desert Hot Springs, 11777 West Drive, Desert Hot Springs, Calif. 92240, (619) 329-8622.

Steelworker’s Old Timers Foundation, 9030 Sierra Ave., Suite F, Fontana, Calif. 92335, (714) 829-0384.

RSVP of Orange County North, 340 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, Calif. 92632, (714) 738-6304.

Pomona Valley Community Services Inc., 2025 Bonita Ave., La Verne, Calif. 91750, (714) 593-7511.

Long Beach Senior Center, 1150 East 4th St., Long Beach, Calif. 90802, (213) 435-7511.

RSVP, P.O. Box 621, Ojai, Calif. 93023, (805) 646-7787.

City of Oxnard Senior Services Office, 350 North C St., Oxnard, Calif. 93030, (805) 984-4646.

Volunteer Bureau of Pasadena, 3301 Thorndale Road, Pasadena, Calif. 91107, (818) 792-3281.

City of San Bernardino Human Services Dept., 600 West 5th St., San Bernardino, Calif. 92410, (714) 383-5253.

United Way of San Diego County, 7510 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego, Calif. 92111, (619) 292-0997.

Volunteer Center of South Orange County, 1440 East 1st St., Suite 301, Santa Ana, Calif. 92701, (714) 953-5757.

Senior Programs of Santa Barbara, 520 “B” Chapala, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93101, (805) 963-0474.

Westside Independent Service to the Elderly (WISE), 1320 Santa Monica Mall, Santa Monica, Calif. 90401, (213) 394-9871. Conejo Recreation and Park District, Goebel Senior Center, 110 S. Conejo School Road, Thousand Oaks, Calif. 91362, (805) 497-2663.

South Bay Action for Older Citizens Inc., 3915 Spencer St., Torrance, Calif. 90503, (213) 370-8559.

Valley Cities Jewish Community Center, 13164 Burbank Blvd., Van Nuys, Calif. 91401, (818) 786-6310.

Volunteer Center of San Fernando Valley, 6931 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, Calif. 91405, (818) 908-5070.

Whittier YMCA, 12817 E. Hadley St., Whittier, Calif., 90601, (213) 698-0184.

YMCA of San Luis Obispo County, 660 Pismo St., San Luis Obispo, Calif. 93401, (805)544-8740.