Groups make the most of baby boomer volunteer efforts

Before Bob Argabright retired in 2004, he looked forward to days of leisure.

But now he finds fulfillment volunteering at least 40 hours a week helping schoolchildren and their families in an impoverished Richmond community.

At 66, Argabright is a little older than the baby boomers, the demographic group born between 1946 and 1964. But his passion for engaging in work reflecting his values, using expertise from his work life and influencing lives is typical of boomer volunteers, nonprofit leaders and researchers said.

Organizations that need these volunteers' time and talent are learning to adjust for this emerging group.

"In the past, maybe with older generations . . . volunteers walked in and said, 'Point me in the right direction and tell me what to do,'" said Reggie Gordon, CEO of the Greater Richmond Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Increasingly, volunteers work flexible schedules that may be shorter in duration but not purpose.

"They want to do something significant and fulfilling. We as nonprofits have to make sure the tasks that we have available for volunteers meet their needs.

"So it requires more work on our part to think through the appropriate kind of opportunities for volunteers," said Gordon, who will address how baby boomers will change the scope of volunteerism at a Richmond Times-Dispatch Public Square on Tuesday.

Joining Gordon as panelists will be Nikki Nicholau, director of the Office on Volunteerism and Community Service, Virginia Department of Social Services; Vanessa Diamond, director of HandsOn Greater Richmond, which links volunteers to meaningful projects; and John Martin, head of the Southeastern Institute of Research and co-founder of the Boomer Project.

Last year, 2 million Virginians of all ages volunteered nearly 239 million hours, equaling more than $4 billion worth of service to the state. In 2007, the Richmond area ranked 19th among 50 large cities for volunteer hours per capita, with an average of 39.9 hours, according to the Corporation for National & Community Service.

The number of baby boomer volunteers is likely to grow locally and nationally in coming years as many boomers retire, said Susan Skog, author of "The Give-Back Solution: Create a Better World with Your Time, Talents and Travel."

"There is a surge in boomer volunteers. And certainly with President Obama renewing a call for service, that absolutely speaks to we baby boomers because there is nothing more exciting or rewarding than knowing there is a collective groundswell of people reaching out," Skog, 53, said.

Some boomers have taken early retirement and "it's interesting what I see different in this group," Nicholau said.

"More are wanting to do short periods, three months to a year, and then wanting to move on to the next thing. So many . . . have done the same thing for so long, now is the opportunity to explore other worlds. That's what I'm seeing in my friends, who are just starting to hit the volunteer ranks."

A study on boomers and volunteerism commissioned by The Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence and the Older Dominion Partnership will be discussed at a Virginia Commonwealth University forum on March 26.

Those results contain good news and potentially greatnews, said Martin, whose organization conducted the study.

"The Richmond region is slightly under the national average in terms of volunteer rates," he said.

"But when you look closely, the boomers are the largest segment of all adult [volunteers] and slightly ahead of the national average. What that says is kudos to the Richmond area.

"When you look at the research we just conducted, they say they will increase their volunteer rate in the future so we may further our lead. We have the potential to make Richmond a national model if we do the right thing."

Organizations can adopt strategies such as aligning volunteer opportunities with boomers' values and vision, said Brian Jacks, Virginia AARP volunteer program coordinator.

"And organizations should at least think about changes in the family structure as volunteers are often caring for parents and kids at the same time," he said.

"The idea of intergenerational activities" makes sense "so they can bring parents and kids."

Barbara Furhmann and her dog, Bogart, provide pet therapy several times a month at the McGuire VA Medical Center, visiting patients with significant brain injuries. They also visit residents in an assisted living facility.

A retired dean of education at Louisiana State University, she also serves on an advisory board for Richmond Community High School.

It's important that her volunteer activities are education related, she said. One friend complained to her about doing low-skill volunteer activities.

"I said, 'That's not the way I want to spend my volunteer time.' I'm doing things I enjoy and things I feel I can contribute. Like being on the advisory board taps into what I think I have some expertise about," Furhmann said.

Some volunteers end up working on projects they never dreamed of, like Argabright, a retired general manager of Packaging Corporation of America,who also worked for Chesapeake Corp. for 35 years.

"I had a wonderful plan all set in my mind because I had worked my butt off for so many years. I was planning on fishing and playing golf," said Argabright, who was honored as central Virginia's mentor of the year in 2007 by the Virginia Mentoring Partnership.

But while tutoring two secondgraders in reading at Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School in south Richmond, "I began to see a huge need not only for these two children but the whole neighborhood."

Since then he has networked to bring resources into the school, which now has a diverse volunteer base of about 45 people and numerous private partnerships.

His efforts include starting a program to strengthen science learning for third-graders by providing trips to Westview on the James, where, also because of his efforts, 286 city youngsters attended residential camp last summer.

His motivation is constant. Argabright recalled seeing a young girl draw a picture of her future. She depicted herself in a nice house with two children. When he asked where her husband was, the child drew him smiling behind bars at the bottom of the picture.

"We have to change that image for that third-grader," he said. "I'm trying to get the resources I can to help change that future picture."

Contact Robin Farmer at (804) 649-6312 or .