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Baltimore County, MD
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Time of Your LIfe
/ 1 Mar 2022
Baltimore County, MD
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Time of Your LIfe
/ 1 Mar 2022
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From YouTube:
Retired and Senior Citizen Volunteer Program (RSVP) Celebrates Volunteers
Description
Alison Vogrin, Director, RSVP
Baltimore County Department of Aging
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Welcome back to the time of your life.
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I'm your host, ethel rasmussen..
This final segment shares valuable information about bcda's, retired and senior volunteer program known as rsvp.
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We are also thrilled to bringing you news about a special event which honors volunteers,.
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But is also open to the public..
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We are pleased to have alison vogrin, director of rsvp at the baltimore county department of aging.
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Alison, welcome to the show..
Thank you for having me as your guest.
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baltimore, county's, retired, and senior volunteer program,.
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Known as rsvp, is a volunteer program for older adults.
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Can you talk about the program,, what it offers,, including your criteria for registration?.
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Sure,, so it's a grant funded program that connects.
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Individuals, ages, 55 and over with volunteer opportunities in the community.
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Rsvp is nationwide.
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however, here in baltimore county, we have connection with a network of more than 30 agency partners,.
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So we are one of the larger programs in the nation with more than 1000 volunteers,.
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And what we try and do is match those volunteers with meaningful, volunteer, opportunities.
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To qualify, you do have to be at least age 55 or over,.
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Because of that federal funding, requirement, and you have to have an interest in giving back.
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And we'll do the rest.
you come into our office,.
We talk about your past experiences,, what you're looking to do, and we make that connection.
Happen.
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volunteering one's time and talent also offers benefits to the volunteer.
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Let's talk about those benefits, along with some of the volunteer opportunities that are available through rsvp.
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There are a number of benefits,.
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Both external to the individual, as well as personally benefits.,.
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What's with the former as part of volunteering,,.
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You're, helping the larger community and the health of the larger community by giving back, taking and tackling some of the issues that you see around you,.
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From a grassroots level.
on the individual level,, there's benefits both physically,, socially and mentally..
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By volunteering,, you have a purpose in life, you're, getting up, you're motivated, you're, physically, improving your health,, so reducing the loss of muscle, mass, you're, improving your cardiovascular health.
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when you're not focused so much on your ailments, and you're mobile you're going to be more inclined to get out.
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You're going to be improving your mood, developing connections with other people,, so you can see there's a synergistic relationship where it's benefit after benefit.
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If you are looking for benefits and want to partake in them,.
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We have a number of opportunities., as I mentioned, we have more than 30 agency partners, that we work with,.
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And they have a range of activities, available..
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Whether you're looking for something indoors, outdoors,.
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If you want to work with children or if you want to work with older adults,, it ranges.
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For example, right now,, we have a unique requests from one of our partners for somebody to help them with ebay.
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They're looking to market some items to bring in proceeds for their museum.
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That's a really unique skill set that we're looking for,, so it doesn't have to be something like that..
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You can be delivering food to home-bound, seniors or out planting trees.
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There's really quite a range and like I said,, we'll meet with you in our office, so that we can talk about what your interests are.
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Changing gears, older americans month is celebrated each may to honor the many contributions made by older adults..
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Can you briefly talk about the origin of older americans month.
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And why it is important to recognize the valuable contributions of volunteers.
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Older americans month was established in 1963.
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This was during a time when many older americans were living in poverty,.
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And they were under-served.
as a way to raise awareness of the supports that are needed.
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For seniors,, as well as to value the contributions they give to society,.
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This national observance was declared..
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This year's theme is age.
My way,.
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Which is all about,?
It opportunities that in ways that seniors can.
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Get out in the community and stay involved and be participating.
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That ties into the theme of the volunteerism and the rsvp program.
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As we said, we're all about giving back and there's benefits.
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That comes to mind, one of our volunteers, who is very passionate about the environment,.
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And he sees it as his legacy to give back to the future generations.
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That's to what volunteering truly is all about, and it's a way for older adults to pay it forward, and to leave that legacy.
Behind.
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alison, in the baltimore county department of aging and.
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The baltimore city health department, division of aging,.
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Will be honoring their rsvp volunteers by invitation only in may.
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Can you talk about this wonderful celebration by sharing the events,.
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Entertainment, and the outline for this special day.
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Yes, so new this year we are combining.
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The annual volunteer appreciation event with the annual senior center concert in the park..
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This will take place on thursday, may 19th at the oregon ridge.
Pavilion park concert pavilion,.
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And it's going to be from 11:00 to 2:00.
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We're doing a special invitation for our volunteers.
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Those are volunteers that are connected either with the rsvp agency partners or the department of aging,.
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And they will receive different perks.
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for instance,.
We have more than 1,000 volunteers who.
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Volunteered between october 2020 and september 2021,.
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Who will be receiving free admission, along with a gift to the concert,.
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And then of those volunteers,, those who serve 45 hours or more during that time period will receive the admission gift,.
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As well as a meal and additional benefit, items.
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But to note that this event is still open to the larger community for purchase tickets,.
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Our volunteers will be receiving a special invitation.
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They don't need., we know who they are.
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they'll, receive an invitation through their e-mail or mail..
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Then the band this year is going to be the business.
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It's 11 piece band coming out of philadelphia.
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They're going to be playing tunes from 60s and 70s,, so we're excited.
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This is going to be an energized event..
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We heard from our volunteers last year that they are really looking forward to getting back in person, and we figured having an outdoor venue will be,.
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Where people can space out is a nice way to ease back into our annual volunteer recognition.
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This event is truly sponsored by a number of businesses,.
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So if you are looking to sponsor this,.
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You can call our business office 410-887-2012.
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The sounds for a brighter tomorrow concert sound's amazing.
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Can you just review one more time were tickets can be purchased and what the cost will be.
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again, if you're a volunteer,.
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You're going to be receiving an invitation, so you don't need to worry about the purchase of tickets.
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for those for the general public who want to participate,, you can purchase your tickets from the senior centers starting april 11th.
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Tickets will be $4 in advance or $5 if you want to pay at the door.
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But again, I emphasize that the volunteers will be receiving their invitations in the mail well in advance of the ticket.
Sales.
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This event sounds amazing, alison.
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for those viewers who were inspired by the segment,, as well as an interest in learning more about opportunities available as an rsvp volunteer,, who should they contact.
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They can contact the rsvp office., we're located in towson, and you can reach us at 410-887-3101 or.
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Volunteers@Baltimorecountymd.Gov.
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We have staff here who would love to set up a meeting to meet with you,.
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Find out your interests, and gets you connected with a volunteer activity.
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Thanks for being a guest on today's show and sharing rsvp information.
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Along with this special concert to honor volunteers and open to the general public.
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Thank you..
That's today's show.!
Thank you for spending your time with us..
Please remember,!
You can call the department of aging information line called maryland access point.
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Of baltimore county or map at 410-887-2594,.
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With questions pertaining to older adults and persons with disabilities.
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This show may also be viewed anytime on the internet at.
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Www.Baltimorecountymd.Gov/Videos with open captioning.
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That brings us to the conclusion of this edition of the time of your life,.
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A national mature media awards winner.
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about the services and contemporary topics that keep you in the know, until next time.