Story Archives of 'Volunteers'

There's a positive side to an aging state! Seniors have more time to volunteer, be politically active and use their years of institutional knowledge to teach and assist historical societies. A new report finds too that the older generation leads all other generations in their input to a community's social capital. But the relationship between the elderly and their community must be symbiotic; they can only help their communities; if their communities make themselves accessible to the elderly in terms of transportation, services and access to restaurants and the arts. Today we wrap up our series looking at this aging demographic's relation to their communities, and how communities can harness this growing amount of "senior power".


Guests

• Lew Feldstein, president of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, which sponsored a new research report on the state of social capital in New Hampshire, and co-author of a book on social capital, Better Together: Resorting the American Community
• Martha Bauman, columnist on aging for the Keene Sentinel and on health issues and senior life for New Hampshire Magazine; former chair of the Monadnock Area Committee on Aging and former director of the Monadnock RSVP program for eight years
• Nancy Spater - Director of Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (R.S.V.P.) for Merrimack County
• TBA

Hillary Edwards volunteers with City Year in Manchester. She says staying engaged in her community helps her keep a positive attitude.

Governor releases hundreds of documents he says list most volunteers working in state government. This comes after a superior court judge said he was troubled by Benson's refusal to name all who worked in his office.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry wants to expand volunteer service across the nation.

At stops in Manchester and Concord, the Massachusetts senator detailed a program that would swap years of college for two years of service.

NHPR?s David Darman has more.

City Year New Hampshire has graduated its first volunteers.

The organization, which is part of Americorps, usually focuses its efforts on helping kids in urban areas.

This past school year was the first time City Year had come to small town America.

Two recent graduates, Jason Cheatham and Elizabeth Utley, joined NHPR's Mark Bevis in the studio to talk about what they learned this year, and how it helped.