Minnesotans find many benefits to volunteering: ‘My thing is to help people’

Every September you’ll find Tammy Willis of Brooklyn Park dressed in an elaborate outfit, like last year’s Western wear, leading a group of about 50 family members and friends at the Twin Cities Walk to End Alzheimer’s. This year will be no exception.

But newly retired Willis, 60, does more than simply participate on the day of the event. She volunteers with the walk planning committee and whatever else the Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dakota Chapter needs done. It’s way to honor her mother, who died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2015 at age 87.

“My family and I are committed to this,” Willis said. “My thing is to help people going through what I went through — to provide resources I didn’t have, to help them walk through this journey.”

Whether people volunteer for personal reasons, like Willis, or other motivations, they serve a vital civic role. Volunteering not only helps people in need, but it also enriches local communities in many intangible and real ways. Nationwide, volunteers contributed $167 billion in economic value for the year ended September 2023, according to AmeriCorps and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Volunteers tend to be older partly because they may be retired and have more time. Studies suggest older volunteers can live longer, healthier lives and be happier. And volunteering can ease the transition from work to retirement by providing purpose.

Volunteers for Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS), one of the state’s largest nonprofit social service organizations, often say their experience provides “a sense of purpose and helps them feel useful and engaged in the community,” said Carolyn Scherer, a program director. Its data supports that: 90% of its foster grandparent volunteers feel more socially connected and 100% of senior companion volunteers say their lives have changed for the better as a result of their service.

Many people are familiar with formal volunteering through an organization, but people also can participate in informal volunteering, such as pet sitting or running errands for a neighbor. In either case, it’s something you provide unasked for free to benefit others.

Formal volunteering hit historic lows during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has been slow to rebound at some places as the demand for services has risen. But some Minnesota nonprofits, including Bloomington-based basic needs organization VEAP, LSS and the United Way of Central Minnesota, are bucking the trend by increasing their number of volunteers.

Niila Hebert, executive director of St. Paul-based Minnesota Alliance for Volunteer Advancement (MAVA), which provides research, training and support to nonprofit organizations, credits that recent rise to increased civic engagement. “More people are becoming interested in expressing their rights and voicing what they like and don’t like in our society,” she said. “We also see an increase in informal volunteerism,” which is more common in the Latino community and other minority communities.

In Minnesota, more than 40% of people participate in formal volunteering, ranking No. 3 nationally, according to AmeriCorps and census data. Nationwide, 28% of the population formally volunteered as of fall 2023.

Here are some reasons older adults volunteer, and the benefits:

The transition from working to retirement, especially the first year, can be rocky for many people used to structure and a busy schedule.

When Bob Ihrig, 74, of Mankato was considering retirement, he received sage advice from a colleague. “He said I needed a game plan or my retirement may not be as enjoyable as I want it to be,” said Ihrig, who retired from teaching high school in 2014. “He said, ‘It’s not what you retire from but what you retire to.’”

Ihrig volunteers more than 10 hours a week for about six groups, including Connections Shelter, Greater Mankato Area United Way and the Minnesota State High School League.

When Sharon Wolfe, 74, of Roseville retired, she helped care of her grandchildren for a while. “Once that ended, I needed something to do,” said Wolfe, who volunteers for the American Red Cross, St. Paul’s Cafesjian’s Carousel and more. “I just can’t sit around — I have to have some purpose. And now I have the time to do it.”

Some of her volunteering is packing and delivering meals together with her husband, Mike Wolfe 74, at least two days a week for Meals on Wheels. They both said they feel fulfilled knowing they’re helping others.

“I just feel like it’s a very rewarding thing to do,” Mike Wolfe said.

Much of Mary Bliesmer’s volunteer work centers on making her community more age-friendly, including being chair of the Chesley Center on Aging, a board member of Vine Adult Community Center, on the advisory council for NicBluCares Compassionate Communities and is on a grant proposal committee for the governor’s Age-Friendly Minnesota program.

“I focus on aging and making sure the area is a good place to grow old,” said Bliesmer, 79, who lives in North Mankato. “I taught geriatric nursing at Minnesota State University, Mankato, for many years and I’m a geriatric nurse practitioner. It’s what I know.”

Mike Wolfe also likes to spend time supporting his community, such as planting flowers along Lexington Avenue and volunteering at Roseville events. He signed up for four volunteer activities at Rosefest in Roseville in June and he volunteers to read to children at Parkview Center School, he said.

His volunteer activities reflect two trends in the volunteer world: a move toward event-focused volunteering and “episodic” volunteering.

A recent survey by MAVA found that many organizations today prefer to have volunteers for a large, one-time event, Hebert said. “They see it as mutually beneficial: Volunteers who want to make a significant contribution in a short amount of time and it lessens the load on staff,” she explained. “People want to be able to see the impact of their service. Event-based volunteering does that.”

Dan Ferber of Bloomington embodies that trend.

The 71-year-old retired software engineer tried various volunteer opportunities in the past five years, including ushering, food shelf stocking and translating, but he realized what he enjoyed the most were short, technical projects. In May, he began a short-term volunteer project for VEAP, ensuring its new volunteer management system is working optimally and helping to implement some of its features, such as online self-scheduling and training.

“I like shorter-term projects where I learn about stuff and then it’s done,” said Ferber, who also did volunteer technical projects for Mission Outpost, a Burnsville food pantry, and MN350, a Minneapolis-based group dedicated to fighting climate change. “It’s interesting.”

Ferber’s work is a big help to nonprofits like VEAP. “Like most nonprofits, we’re chronically understaffed and need more help,” said Karen Hancock, VEAP’s volunteer manager. “There are folks who have a skillset and a lifetime of experience that we would like to tap into if they’re willing.”

Ihrig thinks his volunteer work, including helping to manage the state debate and speech tournaments for the Minnesota State High School League, keeps his mind sharp.

Ihrig and Bliesmer also think it’s important to support their faith, and they volunteer at their church. In addition, Bliesmer is a member of the Medical Ministry Committee of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which lets her blend her faith and nursing background.