General

I would like to talk about the work I do to help my fellow senior citizens in my community. Every week, for two days, I volunteer in a local community centre to help and entertain older adults who visit our centre.

We usually gather on Mondays and Tuesdays. We are provided with a big hall with kitchen facilities by the city. I and some volunteers come here at 9:00 am and make arrangements for the gathering. I usually help them to prepare coffee and make snacks for them. Some of us are experts in knitting, sewing, crochet, and flower making. So, we teach them how to make hats and sweaters and other crafts. We, finally donate them to the Cancer Society.

Most of the seniors are very interested in learning new things and they are happy to make their precious time worthwhile. In the last few years, we learned the keyboard from a professional music master. Now we are going to teach keyboard classes to beginners. It is pleasure to teach what we know and the seniors are also very grateful to us.

I too have learned a lot from our fellow senior citizens since I started volunteering in this place. Some seniors have a difficult time with their families and they feel lonely. So, we try to make them happy and enjoy different activities here.

During the Covid-19 our community centre was closed for two years and we were forced to stay inside the house. We were frustrated and bored staying inside the house without doing anything. Luckily our government gave some grants to educate our seniors who were stuck inside the house. At this time, we were able to learn a lot of new things through Zoom such as medical seminars, debates, games, bingos, etc. Most of our seniors didn’t know how to operate iPads, tablets, computers, English classes, and music classes. Now they are experts in using these electronic items. I also learned a lot of new things during this period. I appreciate our government gives special attention to seniors to keep them healthy and active. In 2022, we started going back to the community center and having a nice time with our friends.

I love volunteering in this place. This is my pleasure and happiness. In the future, I am planning to help needy people even more. It makes me feel very good. I would advise everyone to do some volunteer work. It is very rewarding.