Retiring Baby Boomers should look for ways to stay active, engaged with community

One of the best ways to show gratitude for all of the blessings we share is to give back to your community.

Through our “Boomers Get Connected” initiative, the Truman Heartland Community Foundation is striving to assist Baby Boomers, who are nearing or already are in retirement, to find volunteer opportunities more easily and give back to their community, stay engaged and stay active.

Through our partnership with the United Way of Greater Kansas City, we have nearly 100 volunteer opportunities in eastern Jackson County posted on the United Way Get Connected website.

These opportunities include special volunteer needs for charitable organizations during the holiday season, a number of which are great family volunteer opportunities.

During the summer, we reached out to nonprofit organizations, parks and recreation departments, school districts, hospitals and local governments to get them plugged in to this system, so we would have a central place that Boomers in eastern Jackson County could go to find volunteer opportunities.

We began our promotion Oct. 1, hoping to reach Baby Boomers and help them get connected with volunteer opportunities.

So, if you are a Baby Boomer and feeling grateful during this holiday season, I encourage you to go to the Truman Heartland Community Foundation website, locate “Initiatives and Impact” on the menu along the left side, and click on “Boomers Get Connected.” You also may simply visit http://www.thcf.org/Boomers-Get-Connected.

There, you will learn how to sign up for this no-cost service and discover where your talents and time can be utilized to make a difference in our community.

Our goal is to connect 600 Boomers with volunteer opportunities during the first year, which wraps up on Oct. 1, 2018. That’s approximately 10 percent of the 500 Baby Boomers reaching retirement age every month in our eastern Jackson County community.

We also need your assistance in spreading the word about this new service.

We are reaching out to retiree organizations, churches, and retirement communities for their assistance with sharing this free service with their members.

If you have a group that you think should hear from us, please let me know. We would be pleased to meet with them and help them “Get Connected.”

We have many things to be thankful for this holiday season, and one at the top of my list is living in a great community where people care about one another and give of their talent and time to their community.

To reach columnist Phil Hanson, the president and CEO of Truman Heartland Community Foundation, send email to hanson@thcf.org or call (816) 912-4181.

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Retiring Baby Boomers should look for ways to stay active, engaged with community."