L A W R E NC E
Journal-World RETIREMENT GUIDE
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Sunday, February 26, 2023
TIPS FOR
GETTING
INVOLVED, GETTING
ORGANIZED, AND LOCAL STRATEGIES TO NAVIGATE
TWISTS & TURNS OF POST-WORK LIFE By Chad Lawhorn lll
clawhorn@ljworld.com Your retirement era has finally begun. It is a new chapter in life that you have thought about a lot, even planned for, you’d say. There’s been pencil to paper and conversations with advisers. But then one day, something you hadn’t planned for happened. You reached the end of your “to-do list.” It is a fairly common retirement surprise, but in Lawrence and Douglas County, there can be a fairly straightforward solution: Go talk to Roger Hill. Retirement surprise No. 2 is that you won’t actually be talking to someone named Roger Hill. Rather, the advice refers to the Roger Hill Volunteer Center. Founded in 1990 and affiliated with the local United Way, the center aims to be the “nexus for volunteer recruitment, coordination We have a lot and engagement,” in Lawrence and of retirees who Douglas County. Or, put more simply, they can start are busier than filling up your to-do list — but probever because ably in ways that you will like. they are doing “We have a lot of retirees who are busier than ever because they are volunteer work doing volunteer work and they are and they are doing doing something they are passionate about versus something they feel something they like they need to show up for a payare passionate check,” said KJ Abel Ruch, director about versus of the Roger Hill Volunteer Center. People can reach out to the center something they at volunteer@unitedwaydgco.org to feel like they need set up a time to talk to Ruch or anto show up for a other staff member about volunteer opportunities in the area. Ruch said paycheck.” it can be fairly easy to find something a retiree is interested in and — KJ Abel Ruch, director of match it to a volunteer need in the the Roger Hill area. Volunteer Center A retiree’s interest can be related to the work from their past career, but it definitely doesn’t have to be, Ruch said. “If they were an accountant and want nothing to do with accounting anymore, they can reach out to an organization they have a passion for,” Ruch said. Ruch and the center can facilitate that outreach, but the internet also can speed the process up. The center operates a website — volunteerdouglascounty.org — that lists a multitude of agencies that currently are seeking volunteers. Sometimes the events are one-time engagements. Currently, the Busker Festival is looking for volunteers for its downtown event in May. (No word on if being a retired firefighter puts you at the top of the list to light the torches for the fire-eater.) Many other events are ongoing.
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Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World Photos
THE SENIOR RESOURCE CENTER FOR DOUGLAS COUNTY is located at 745 Vermont St. in Lawrence. IT OFFERS INFORMATION ON a variety of issues impacting retirees and hosts plenty of SOCIAL ACTIVITIES, including quilting, music and games. ABOVE: Sharon Mayer pauses from her drawing at an art session at the Senior Resource Center for Douglas County on Feb. 21.