A blog about great senior volunteers in Northern Virginia making a difference
Photos by RSVP-Northern Virginia Volunteer Engagement Leader Lou Coglianese Thank you to the two dozen RSVP volunteers who filled the halls and conference room of Volunteer Fairfax in Fairfax City Saturday morning, packing backpacks for local school children during RSVP’s monthly group service project performed in support of RSVP partner FACETS’ Back to School
By Rob Paine, RSVP Marketing and Outreach Specialist Welcome to August ! RSVP-Northern Virginia has put together list of volunteer opportunities for August and a little beyond provided by our partners and friends. Most are one time events that we hope you will find convenient and fun! Not a member of RSVP-Northern Virginia yet? If you are 55
RSVP-Northern Virginia is happy to welcome its newest nonprofit partner, The Shepherd’s Center of Oakton-Vienna. For a brief overview of the SCOV, please watch the video above. The Shepherd’s Center of Oakton-Vienna is a volunteer-based organization that has been dedicated to providing life-enriching services to mature adults in the community since 1997. Through a wide variety of programs,
Story by Rob Paine This story originally appeared in the Senior section of the Fairfax County Times, July 26, 2019 A bocce bug leads a former Capitol policeman to six gold medals Retired U.S. Capitol policeman Nick Garito of Fairfax first caught the bocce bug at a festival in Rockville twelve years ago. Upon his
Have you just retired or about to retire and wondering, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? RSVP-Northern Virginia can help you find the answer. RSVP-Northern Virginia will hold a free seminar on volunteering in retirement at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 14, at the Charles E. Beatley Library in Alexandria.The
RSVP-Northern Virginia would like to extend its deepest condolences to the family and friends of James MacKenzie,Jr., who passed away July 5, 2019, at the age of 65. Several staff members from RSVP as well as many of our volunteers had the incredible good fortune and pleasure to work with Jim who was chair of
Where were you on July 20, 1969? This weekend (along with everyone) RSVP-Northern Virginia celebrates the 50th anniversary of one of the crowning achievements in history, putting a human on the moon. During President John F. Kennedy’s famous speech at at Rice University, September 12, 1962, when he said the U.S. would put a man
July may be almost half over, but RSVP-Northern Virginia still has a variety of opportunities available for you before August begins. In case you may have missed it, here is a link to our July RSVP e-news . This month’s edition not only has features on the great work our volunteers have done but includes a
With heavy hearts, the staff and volunteers at RSVP-Northern Virginia, Volunteer Fairfax, Volunteer Arlington and Volunteer Alexandria and its partners, sends its deepest condolences to RSVP volunteer Carol Campbell and her family and friends. Carol’s husband Gene Campbell of Alexandria, also an RSVP volunteer, passed away July 1, 2019, at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington,
In case you were not up early Sunday morning listening to iHeart’s radio’s great line up of community programming, here is your chance to listen to a replay of the show that features Nick Garito, a gold medalist with the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics and RSVP’s and the NVSO’s Rob Paine being interviewed by Bernie
RSVP-Northern Virginia and The Northern Virginia Senior Olympics are again partnering to offer Northern Virginia seniors an outstanding opportunity to make new friends and stay both mentally and physically active while inspiring others to lead a healthy lifestyle. RSVP volunteer and NVSO gold medal diver Carol Mackela is featured in a new Fairfax County Channel
The Northern Virginia Senior Olympics, a partner of RSVP-Northern Virginia, is seeking more than 100 volunteers (ages 16 and up) to support the 2019 games which run Sept. 14-28. The NVSO takes place at 25 venues located across Northern Virginia. More than 800 competitors (who are all 50 or better) will take part in more
Want to see public health emergency response in action and help your community? Want to see public health emergency response in action and help your community? Volunteer to participate in Capital Fortitude, a full-scale emergency exercise designed to evaluate the National Capital Region’s ability to dispense medication quickly in response to an anthrax attack. To
In our newest RSVP podcast, RSVP-Northern Virginia volunteer Mike McLaughlin of Fairfax Station, VA., talks with Rob Paine of RSVP about how RSVP helped him make the transition from the corporate world to volunteering in retirement. Photos and story by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia To listen to short RSVP podcast featuring Mike talking with Rob
RSVP-Northern Virginia will hold a seminar on volunteering in retirement, Tuesday, July 16, at 10:30 a.m., at the American Red Cross National Capital Region office in Fairfax. The one-hour event is free and open to the public. To sign up for the July 16 info session, you can sign up online by clicking July 16
Seventeen enthusiastic and energetic RSVP-Northern Virginia volunteers hit the ground digging Thursday morning, June 6, at the Fairfax County Park Authority’s Green Spring Gardens Park, located between Annandale and Alexandria in Fairfax County. Story & photos by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia Outreach and Marketing Specialist The volunteers spent three hours clearing brush and weeds from
RSVP-Northern Virginia is proud to announce it has hired a new volunteer specialist, Brandi Morris of Springfield, Va. Brandi has extensive experience in volunteer and event management, according to RSVP-Northern Virginia program manager Janet Davison. “As a long time volunteer herself, Brandi truly appreciates the importance matching every volunteer with their ideal opportunity,” Janet says.
RSVP honored its volunteers on Tuesday at the beautiful Burke Lake Park where RSVP held its annual Volunteer Recognition event. Thirty volunteers who donated a grand total of 4,000 hours of their time and talents over the past 12 months were recognized with The President’s Volunteer Service Award. Congratulations to all of our President’s Volunteer
RSVP-Northern Virginia would like to congratulate the OLLI-Mason photo club for winning the Adult Volunteer Group Award during the 2019 Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards breakfast held, Wednesday, April 24, in Springfield. The Photography Club at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at George Mason University provides free services to nonprofit community organizations and events
Photos and story by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia You don’t have to sell Shelley Brosnan on the concept that volunteers make a difference. She’s seen it first-hand. Shortly after becoming a member of RSVP-Northern Virginia three years ago, the retired senior business administrator was staffing an outreach table at the annual 50+ Expo held in
RSVP-Northern Virginia would like to welcome The American Red Cross of the National Capital Region as its newest work station partner! Based in Merrifield, Va., The American Red Cross of the National Capital Region offers a variety of volunteer opportunities to RSVP members including those that support the Red Cross’ disaster response work, its administrative
RSVP-Northern Virginia would like to thank all of the members of The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University who attended “The Value and Benefits of Volunteering in Retirement” held last Friday at OLLI’s Tallwood campus in Fairfax. This special seminar hosted at OLLI-Mason was a joint project produced by RSVP-Northern Virginia and Fairfax
Story and Photos by Rob Paine, staff, RSVP-Northern Virginia When Beverly Ritz retired, she says, “I found I needed something, I need to do something.” Throughout her career, working most recently with Delta Airlines, the Arlington resident discovered she enjoyed working with seniors, but beyond work and raising a family, “there just did not seem
Welcome to our newest RSVP-Northern Virginia podcast featuring an interview with Kristen Suthers Rumrill, PhD, MPH, (shown in photo above) who is the project coordinator for the Mason Music and Memory Initiative at George Mason University in Fairfax. You can listen to the entire podcast by clicking here. The goal of the Mason Music & Memory
Photos and story by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia RSVP-Northern Virginia is partnering with the Giant at Penrose Square in Arlington, to present a free nutrition seminar for seniors, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. The store is located at 2501 9th Road South, Arlington, VA, 22204. Free parking is available. RSVP (Retired and Senior
March offers many opportunities for RSVP-Northern Virginia volunteers to support the great work being done at Finance Park in Fairfax. Junior Achievement, an organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy, has just released its list of volunteer openings for March at Finance Park, conveniently located in Central Fairfax. If you have
Our RSVP-Northern Virginia volunteer photography corps swung into action again on the Martin Luther King Jr., National Day of Service. Our volunteer photographers (consisting mostly of RSVP volunteers who are members of the photo club at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University) did another fantastic job of documenting volunteers making a difference at
Story and Photos by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia “The reason I love RSVP volunteers is because you guys have the work ethic and you have the life experience and the understanding; you know that everything is not black and white, there is a lot of grey. You bring that welcomed experience and knowledge from not
Story and Photos by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia RSVP-Northern Virginia would like to thank Giant in-store registered nutritionist Marissa Donovan, MS, RD, LDN, for the informative seminar she lead earlier this month at the University Mall Giant on Braddock Road in Fairfax for RSVP volunteers. More than a dozen current and prospective RSVP volunteers took
RSVP-Northern Virginia, and The Northern Virginia Senior Olympics would like to thank everyone who took part in our joint volunteer info session, this morning at Oak Marr RECenter. More than 20 people took part in the event which highlighted volunteer openings at the NVSO, which will tentatively open its 2019 games, Saturday, Sept. 14. Roger
Thank you to all the wonderful RSVP-Northern Virginia volunteers who helped make events taking place in and around Monday’s Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service a big success. As RSVP-Northern Virginia is a program of Volunteer Fairfax, Volunteer Arlington and Volunteer Alexandria, our volunteers and staff were mobilized to MLK Day weekend projects
RSVP-Northern Virginia and the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics will hold a joint volunteer info session, Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 10 a.m., at the Oak Marr RECenter in Oakton, to recruit volunteers for the 2019 senior games planning committee. To sign up for the Jan. 29th orientation, email RSVP Volunteer Specialist Carly Hubicki at chubicki@volunteerfairfax.org or
RSVP teaming up with Chesterbrook Residences in Falls Church to spread love to local seniors for Valentine’s Day RSVP Northern Virginia is excited to announce the date for its 2nd annual Valentine’s Day Meet & Greet, titled “Spread the Love with RSVP,” which will take place Tuesday, Feb. 12 at Chesterbrook Residences in Falls Church. Check out
It’s awards season! From the Golden Globes to the Oscars, outstanding artists are being recognized for their great work. Locally, RSVP-Northern Virginia sponsors’ Volunteer Fairfax, Volunteer Arlington and Volunteer Alexandria recognize those who excel in the art of making a difference: our volunteers. This week Volunteer Fairfax opened nominations for the 2019 Fairfax County Volunteer
RSVP-Northern Virginia would like to thank Ingrid Parris-Hicklin for featuring RSVP on the latest episode of Ingrid’s World that aired earlier this month. The show is recorded at the studios of Fairfax Public Access in Merrifield, Va. The episode featuring RSVP can be viewed here. In the 12 minute segment, Ingrid chats with RSVP-Northern Virginia
Welcome to 2019! The team at RSVP-Northern Virginia is excited to start the new year and we have several great events scheduled for you to enjoy. There is no better way to stay up to date on everything RSVP than checking out our January 2019 newsletter. Whether you are a long time RSVP’er, new to the
RSVP-Northern Virginia will hold a seminar on volunteering in retirement, Thursday, Jan 10, at 3:30 p.m., at University Mall in Fairfax. The one-hour event is free and open to the public. RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program), the region’s largest volunteer network for people 55-years-old and better, provides personalized support to seniors who are seeking
Junior Achievement, an organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy, needs more volunteers at Finance Park, conveniently located in Central Fairfax. If you have not been to Finance Park, prepared to be wowed. The total time commitment is 5 hours, including a 1-hour training the morning of your scheduled volunteer day. You
Please save the date of Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, as RSVP-Northern Virginia has another of its great Valentine’s Day celebrations in the works. More details coming later this week. Stay tuned…. In the meantime visit http://www.rsvpnova.org to catch up on some of our latest offerings. RSVP-Northern Virginia is a program of Volunteer Fairfax, Volunteer Arlington
RSVP-Northern Virginia and the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics will hold a joint volunteer info session, Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 10 a.m., at the Oak Marr RECenter in Oakton. Story by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program), the region’s largest volunteer network for people 55-years-old and better, is the official volunteer partner
RSVP-Northern Virginia is partnering with the University Mall Giant to present a free nutrition seminar for seniors, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, at 10:30 a.m., in Fairfax. The University Mall Giant is located at 10653 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA, 22032, at the intersection of Braddock and Ox roads, across from the main entrance to George
Story and Photos by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia Monday night RSVP staff and our volunteer engagement leaders gathered in Fairfax City to celebrate the great accomplishments achieved by our RSVP volunteer engagement team over the past year. Happy Holidays from RSVP Northern Virginia! RSVP engagement leaders fill many roles from managing volunteers at larger events
Have you heard the newest RSVP NOVA podcast featuring the 2018 RSVP Holiday Volunteering Guide ? The holiday season is a great time for giving back and RSVP Northern Virginia’s Holiday Volunteering Guide is a great tool to help you find meaningful volunteer opportunities. This short podcast found here features RSVP volunteer specialist Carly Hubicki
Thanks to RSVP Northern Virginia you can easily choose from dozens of holiday volunteer opportunities available through our partner agencies and nonprofits conveniently located throughout Northern Virginia by reading the 2018-19 Holiday Volunteering Guide Whether it is making sure children in need have holiday gifts and food in Alexandria or if it’s helping out a carriage
There is still time to sign up for RSVP’s upcoming photo seminar at Green Spring Gardens, scheduled for Aug. 28. RSVP-Northern Virginia, the region’s largest volunteer group for those 55 “or better” will hold a free seminar on iPhone photography, Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 10 a.m., at Green Spring Gardens Park in the Alexandria section
Last summer as part of our effort to promote volunteering for one of our RSVP partners, The Fairfax County Park Authority’s Farmers Market program, we did a feature on John and Fran Lovaas, two senior volunteers who manage the highly-acclaimed Reston Farmers Market at Lake Anne. You can view the report by clicking the video
Photos and Story by Rob Paine, RSVP-Northern Virginia RSVP-Northern Virginia would like to thank the staff and volunteer docents at Green Spring Gardens for hosting nearly 20 RSVP volunteers and leading them on a tour of the park, July 30. The special free tour of the gardens for RSVP volunteers (many who took part in
The newest Golden Gazette is out! The Golden Gazette is published each month by the Fairfax County Adult and Aging Services. It is one of the most comprehensive publications in the area that covers events and topics seniors care about. This month’s edition includes a story on The Lions Club, tips on how to wrangle the ton of trash
