Community Service Ideas for Helping the Elderly

If you or someone you know, wants to be involved in serving their community, helping the elderly is a great place to start. Whether you just want to help others or you need to find a community service project for a church group or school project, there are plenty of opportunities to help end senior isolation, hunger, or depression by providing services such as grocery delivery, yard work, starting a handiwork club, teaching computer skills, or simply making a friend.

Connect with a like-minded organization that specializes in matching volunteers with particular types of service opportunities or lead your own initiative with family or friends. Whatever your age, you can make a difference in the lives of others!
​
Here is a list of organizations you might want to consider:

Volunteer Match
Catholic Community Services
National and Community Service
501 Commons
AmeriCorps Serve Washington

Here is a list of opportunities to consider:

• Serving the elderly with a Full-Service Car Wash - Chores like washing the car can be a lot for an elderly person to handle, but they’ll certainly feel happy to have a sparkling-clean car again.
• Helping an elder Care for their Yard - Offer to mow the lawn or take care of yard work such as raking, weeding, watering, clearing gutters, or shoveling during winter months.
• Start a Grocery Shopping Service for Seniors - Shopping can be a hassle even with plenty of energy and agility. One way to be a big help to a senior is to offer to bring their groceries right to their door.
• Teaching Computer Skills to Older Adults - If you’re tech-savvy, share your skills with an elderly friend to help them connect with others online.
• Run a Book Club for Seniors - Join or begin an intergenerational book club in your community and you can all get fresh perspectives on well-loved classics.
• Help seniors Clean House - Help with window-washing, dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping floors, or laundry: These are all things that can be overwhelming to take care of alone for the elderly.
• Volunteer to Help Drive seniors - Become a volunteer driver and help those who can’t drive anymore run their errands.
• Preserve Memories with seniors - Travel down memory lane with an elderly friend or family member by sorting their old photos and listening to the stories each snapshot holds.
• Meals on Wheels - Take time out of your day to deliver hot meals and help end senior hunger and isolation in your community.
• Read Aloud to the elderly - Sign up for a reading program at your local nursing home and use your voice to make literature come alive for those with poor eyesight.
• Adopt a Grandparent - Build a long-term friendship with an elderly person in your community by adopting them as a grandparent.
• Be a Senior’s Pen Pal - Don’t have time to visit a nursing home regularly but still want to help the elderly? Become a pen pal.
• Help Record Life Stories - Spend time recording and transcribing the stories of the previous generation and showing that each one is valuable and worth preserving.
• Sew Walker Caddies - Get in touch with your crafty side and sew walker caddies for an elderly friend!
• Give Pedicures to Seniors - Sometimes, when you look good, you feel good. Offer a manicure or pedicure to an elderly person you know or treat them to a salon trip.
• Performing Music in Nursing Homes - If you’re musically talented, ask to perform at a local nursing home and share your talents.
• Run an iPod Donation Drive - Memory, music, and mood are inextricably intertwined for many people. Give seniors access to the music they love through their own MP3 player.
• Help Seniors Learn to Knit or Crochet - Eager to hone your knitting skills and teach or learn new stitches? Start up a knitting club at a local nursing home.
• Do Art Projects with seniors - Offer to lead art projects at your local nursing home and you’ll also enjoy expressing yourselves with paint or pencils.
• Cooking and Kitchen Activities for nursing home residents - Enjoy spending time in the kitchen together with local seniors.
• Paint Birdhouses - Birdhouses can bring a bright splash of color to any window along with a sense of accomplishment when they are personally built and decorated.
• Take a senior to a Museum - Invite a senior friend to a museum with you and they’ll be able to take in the exhibits and get a little bit of exercise as they explore.
• Help seniors Create a Memory Quilt - Create new memories while preserving old ones when you work with a senior to make a memory quilt.
• Start a Community Choir - Love to sing? Find an elderly friend who does, too, and start an informal singing group.
• Form a Crochet Circle to Make Baby Blankets - Get a group of senior citizens together who are interested in learning and teaching crochet techniques and make baby blankets for donation.
• Help a senior to Garden - Brighten up a room with a living floral arrangement, herbs, or a vegetable assortment in a pot for an elderly person who enjoys gardening.

 
To learn more about volunteering and being active in Tacoma, here are a few more website you may want to explore! Get out there!
University of Washington Tacoma 
Volunteering in Pierce County
United Way
Great Non-Profits
City of Tacoma
Metro Parks