Retirement offers an opportunity to think about how we want to spend our time and where we can make a difference. For me, one way to give back is by supporting the work of Food Bank of Iowa.
The need is close to home. Food Bank of Iowa’s 2025 impact report notes that one in six Iowa children faces food insecurity. Behind that number are children and families who don’t always know whether they’ll have enough to eat.
Giving some of my retirement time to help address that need is one way I can contribute to the well-being of my community.
Learning How to Make a Difference
Food Bank of Iowa recently invited a group of volunteers, including me, to learn more about its operations and brainstorm ways to improve the processes for getting more food to more families.
It was an opportunity to look beyond an individual volunteer task and better understand the work that makes food assistance possible.
Getting food to families takes coordination, thoughtful planning and people willing to work together. By inviting volunteers into that conversation, Food Bank of Iowa created space for us to ask questions, share observations and consider where improvements might help.
Bringing Our Experience to the Table
One of the opportunities in retirement is finding new ways to use the knowledge and skills we’ve developed throughout our lives.
Volunteering can draw on many of those skills: listening carefully, asking questions, solving problems and collaborating with people who bring different perspectives.
That was part of the purpose of gathering volunteers together. We had a shared goal, helping more food reach more families, and an opportunity to think about how to support it.
Sometimes giving back means offering your time to complete a task. Sometimes it means contributing an idea or noticing a process that could work better. Both have a place in helping an organization carry out its mission.
Care That Reaches Beyond Us
As part of ithrive31’s “Coaches Who Care,” this experience offers a reminder that care takes many forms.
In coaching, we make room for conversation, learning and possibilities. In our communities, we can bring that same willingness to listen and contribute to causes that matter to us.
Food insecurity is a significant challenge, and no one volunteer can solve it alone. But each person can support the larger effort. Time, attention and a willingness to work alongside others are valuable contributions.
The goal of our volunteer conversation was straightforward: find ways to get more food to more families. It’s a purpose that keeps the people behind the processes at the center of the work.
Putting Gratitude into Action
This season of gratitude is an opportunity to consider what we have to share.
For some of us, that may be time. For others, it may be professional experience, financial support or a willingness to learn something new.
Using some of my retirement time to support Food Bank of Iowa is one way I’m choosing to give back. It’s also an invitation to keep learning about the needs in my community and the ways I can help.
If there’s a cause you care about, I invite you to reach out to an organization doing that work and ask, “What would be helpful right now?” Start by listening. You might find that a skill you’ve used for years, like organizing a project or helping a group think through a problem, is something they could use. Start with one conversation and see where it leads.
