The Willingness of Persons 60 or Over to Volunteer

This investigation examined persons 60 or over concerning their willingness to engage in volunteer activity. Volunteering was defined as contributing one's time without pay to non-profit organizations in the community. Of the 56 non-volunteers interviewed, a startling 59 percent expressed a willingness to volunteer and a main reason given for not volunteering was simply that no one has asked them. Older persons have historically underutilized and/or have been undersewed by the social service network in the community. Results of this and other investigations indicate that there is a significant group of older volunteers and potential volunteers waiting to be asked who can be used to bridge this service gap.