News

Season of Giving: Yes, boomers are volunteers

Jan Witte volunteered at U.S. Postal Service canned food drive.

By Nancy Waclawek, Published: November 23, 2017

Here’s what Henderson County’s nonprofit leaders say about volunteers from the Baby Boom generation: They are loyal, passionate and hardworking — and they want to do volunteering their way.

“They are incredibly busy,” said Kimerly Hinkelman, executive director of the Pardee Hospital Foundation. “To volunteer, it has to be something very defined and something that makes a difference. They are into teamwork, group activities.”
The Pardee Hospital Foundation thinks strategically about how to engage its 100 volunteers, which includes the board of directors and everyone involved in its fundraising events. “We offer specific time-limited activities,” Hinkelman said. Volunteers might be appointed to serve on a committee to organize an event, but their commitment is over after that, she said.
Hinkelman, like many nonprofit leaders in the county, is herself a Baby boomer. “I’m in the middle of the boomers,” she said. She grew up in Ohio and moved to Hendersonville from Philadelphia. Like many boomer women, she has built a career, married, raised a family and is still working fulltime at age 63.
In fact, about 40 percent the county’s population is made up of boomers, born during the post-World War II baby boom from 1946 to 1964. The early boomers hit retirement age about six years ago. Some did retire, some continue to work because they need to or because they want to. The Great Recession of 2007 reduced many boomers’ retirement investments, changing their dreams of a life of leisure and travel. While the economy has improved over the last 10 years, some boomers remain financially pinched – or they just want to keep working.
Hinkelman recalled a recent meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals – WNC, at which one of the speakers talked about generational differences in philanthropy, focusing on the boomers ages 53 to 71.
“They are still working, they have might have adult children, they are beginning to have grandchildren. They might still have kids in college. They might still be paying off college for their children. They have very busy lives. They are trying to do a lot of things.”
For that reason, recruiting volunteers and staying connected with current ones means “personal connections,” Hinkelman said. “It is critical to understand these (connections) and leverage word of mouth. It’s all about personal relationships.”
While their children and grandchildren are growing up with computers and instant-messaging and Internet connections, “You have to reach out to boomers through a variety of means because they are the generation that bridges the ‘paper’ and Internet age,” she said. “They embraced it and transitioned to technology in their work life.” And it’s Facebook, not Twitter, for the boomer audience that the foundation wants to reach, she said.

‘An invaluable source of volunteers’

The United Way of Henderson County finds boomers to be “critical to our work, both as volunteers and donors,” said executive director Denise Cumbee Long. “We see them highly involved in supporting United Way initiatives. We feel lucky that Henderson County has many residents in this age demographic.”
“Boomers are an invaluable source of volunteers for United Way,” she said. “Last year, United Way mobilized over 1,500 volunteers to provide approximately 8,000 hours or over $188,000 worth of volunteer hour value to improve our community. Many of these volunteers were boomers. Some use our online Volunteer Matching Program to find volunteer opportunities at local nonprofits that fit their interests and schedules. We have heard several stories about recent retirees who moved to our area, discovered the online matching program and found truly satisfying volunteer opportunities where they could lend their considerable skills and expertise. Our local nonprofits tell us they love their boomer volunteers!
“We also see boomers highly involved in hands-on projects at our Days of Caring or Action. They also serve on our volunteer funding panels and our board. Female boomers have become quite engaged with Women United, our new initiative for women leadership donors who want to connect their philanthropy with volunteerism. Members of Women United make up all age demographics, but boomers ae highly represented. They contribute to United Way at a leadership level and enjoy volunteering with an after-school program for at risk fifth grade girls.
“Finally, we have also been intrigued by the trend of older participants signing up for our Rising Leaders program. We initially thought that Rising Leaders would mostly appeal to younger professionals who wanted to learn leadership skills and receiving training for future roles on nonprofit boards. We have found, however, that this program also appeals to recent retirees who want to get more connected to our county’s nonprofit community.
“Our biggest challenge with our boomers is that they are so busy, even in retirement,” Long said. These are active, engaged people who are giving their time and resources to many causes that they care about deeply. We feel lucky when we are one of their choices,” Long said.

‘Boomers do the heavy lifting’

Jeff Miller, who founded Blue Ridge Honor Flight in 2006 to honor military veterans by providing them a chance to visit the war memorials in Washington, D.C., said boomers are a “huge part” of the success of the organization. “Baby boomers are on our board. Boomers do the heavy lifting.”
At least 60 volunteers fly with 100 veterans on each of the two Honor Flights that leave from Asheville Regional Airport each year. The trips are up and back in a day, he said, “not immensely time consuming but immensely gratifying.” Everyone is welcome to participate in making the day memorable for a veteran of a military conflict, now mainly Vietnam and Korean war vets. “Be a guardian (on a flight), welcome them home (at the airport)” or provide help before the flight. “Help with a fundraiser or in general volunteer work.”
When “vets tell you it’s the greatest day of their entire lives, you know you’ve done something right. I truly believe it’s a flawless mission that we do,” Miller said.
Boomers are “pretty major” for the Blue Ridge Humane Society, said Lutrelle O’Cain, executive director. “They are very valued as volunteers at the shelter and the thrift store and in fundraisers and special events. They bring a variety of talents and life experience to the table.” At last count in August, the Humane Society had 365 volunteers – “one for every day of the year,” O’Cain said – many of them boomers who are retired and want to stay active. Many are seasonal volunteers, and “we really miss them when they are gone. They help in the shelter and the thrift store. We rely on volunteers every day of the week and on holidays.
“They feel satisfaction in being involved. They feel needed and appreciated to see the results” of their work, when a shelter dog gets adopted, for example.
“Many of them come in to spend time with the animals. Many don’t have pets any more so they get their ‘pet fix’ at the shelter. They get a lot of pleasure from that.”

Matching interests and tasks

At Pardee Hospital, boomers are among the volunteers who help in departments throughout the hospital, said Karla Reese, director of volunteer services. The hospital counts on its 200 volunteers to help keep things running smoothly.
“Some volunteers have three or four different jobs,” she said. In the application process, volunteers are asked about their backgrounds and interests so they can get matched appropriately to positions available. Some people have volunteered for years, accumulating hundreds of hours of volunteer time – one volunteer was honored for her 17,000 hours of service, Reese said.
Retired teachers tend to find their way to the Blue Ridge Literacy Council, said Autumn Weil, executive director. “We have about 150 volunteers a year, with 80 percent remaining year over year,” she said. “The majority of our volunteers are Baby boomers. We reach them through direct marketing, flyers in places of worship, word of mouth. Primarily they seek us out because of their love for literacy. They generally are retired educators. They are at a place in their lives where they can volunteer – it takes a commitment of five hours per week. They seek us out.”

'Have a passion for the mission'

The Literacy Council provides tutoringfor adults in one-on-one or small group settings. “We have 218 adults and 194 are matched with tutors, individuals or small groups that meet once or twice per week. We find that younger boomers are still working – fulltime or part-time because they need to or because they want to. Group sessions are now the rule rather than the exception because of volunteer scheduling and preferences.
“No matter where you volunteer,” Weil said, “have a passion for the mission. It will make a difference. I appreciate the loyalty of our Baby boomer volunteers.”
Some nonprofit leaders plant the seed of volunteerism early by reaching out to school-aged children and young adults. Carolyn Justus, board chair of the Heritage Museum, is one of them. She hosts Tarheel Junior Historians once a month at the Historic Courthouse. “These are third to eighth graders, homeschooled mostly. They come with their parents … You have to plant seed with younger generations” to get them interested in history and getting involved. Most of the current 30 volunteers are 70 or older, she said. She is seeking boomer-aged volunteers to continue the museum’s mission.
The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office Volunteers in Partnership (VIP) program has 76 volunteers between the ages of 20 and 90. VIP volunteers are members of the Sheriff’s Office but are not sworn officers. They assist in 13 areas including traffic control, security at the Historic Courthouse and the Judicial Courthouse, funeral escorts and civil fingerprinting.
“Last year we had 25,000 hours in volunteer time which is worth about half-a-million dollars” for Henderson County, said Dale Coerver, director of the program. Coerver retired in 2010 after a career as a corporate executive and a small business owner. “I needed something to do and I was impressed with the Sheriff’s Office, so I volunteered.” In 2011 he became director.
“We constantly need new people” to volunteer, he said. Turnover every year means he is always recruiting. “The bulk (of volunteers) are not boomers,” he said. “Some are still working fulltime.”

Park Ridge Health Foundation recruits volunteers by encouraging current volunteers to bring friends. “We just developed a new brochure about volunteer opportunities,” said Sherri Holbert, foundation director. “We had a special meeting in November at the Flat Rock Playhouse” for a performance of “Pinkalicious,” which runs through Nov. 19. Park Ridge Health is executive producer of the musical. “We used it to invite volunteers to come and enjoy the show and as a recruiting idea for new volunteers. We said, ‘Come and hear the Park Ridge story’ and connect with the team.”