My employer allows for working four (4) hours per month doing volunteer work during the working day. The opportunities were usually fairly close to the office and that certainly helped make the volunteering a little easier too.

There is a system that employees use to track their volunteer hours in. Enough hours earn the volunteer a grant to be given to their charity of choice.

Some employees can coordinate a group outing, send out reminders, and volunteers can log their hours directly to the event – quite conveniently. One recurring event earned my employer – and the volunteer team I was on – recognition from the state for their effort too.

I am fortunate enough to have a schedule, and workload, that allows me to volunteer. But in addition to doing the volunteering through work, I also do volunteering outside the work, such as with our church (usually on weekends or in the evening) and the local library’s board of directors (usually in the evening).

Combined, all the volunteer hours add up. And really help the community.

After retirement, the during-the-day opportunities may be reduced due to the lack of communication, but the time available to do volunteering during the day should certainly increase. I don’t foresee there being too much of an impact on the evening volunteering because that portion of the schedule shouldn’t change. But admittedly, there will be a little more work required to participate in volunteering. And because I work “so far away” from home, going to these opportunities will be a little more of an inconvenience too.

Ultimately, I predict that I will miss doing some volunteer activities, and overall, the amount I do will also be reduced (not even taking our travel plans into account either). And I will miss it, to some extent.