Peace Corps anew

Posted by Brunie

My Peace Corps service in the early '70s was pivotal in my life. It came at a time when I heard the echo of President Kennedy's call for "What you can do for your country...", and I knew we - as a species - had entered a time when reality was larger than our little towns and states and nations. We were one world, interdependent, and I wanted to make a difference. I think I did.

Today, almost 40 years later, I hear the call that many of we 76 million Boomers are responding to - choosing volunteer service as a way to "give back." We want to make an important contribution to better the world, or at least some particular part of it. We care. We always have. Now, as we are finishing or at least changing our wage-earning careers and look around for other things to do and other ways to make a difference, I am glad to see the Peace Corps stepping up again. It is a smart move on their part, to create this initiative - www.peacecorps.gov/50plus - focused on the Boomer demographic.

This is only one of the options awating us, though. There are domestic programs like the Coporation for National and Community Service, and Americorps, VolunteerMatch and other national, regional, and community groups that find themselves inundated as never before with applicants.

Join up. Give back. Find a way where you can contribute your unique - and very needed - talents and time.