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Volunteering Together: Building friendships and strengthening bonds
(Family Features) Volunteering has always been a big part of Shelley Brosnan’s life, whether she was serving in her children’s school or in their Fairfax, Va., community. When Brosnan retired, increasing her volunteer efforts was a natural next step. Serving with Volunteer Fairfax, an AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP program, she spends about 10 hours a week teaching new volunteers about helping older adults age in place, providing food for those in need and extending the capacity of local nonprofits.
“There’s so much to love about volunteering,” Brosnan said. “Providing purpose and serving the community are obvious reasons, but the connections I make with others are one of the greatest benefits. I just really love helping people and I’ve made friends through volunteering.”
Brosnan’s experience with volunteering is backed by science. According to the Mayo Clinic, having a solid social network improves both physical and mental health as it can boost happiness, increase your sense of belonging and improve self-confidence. As people age, many social avenues from earlier phases of life, such as school and work, no longer exist and making friends can be difficult. The Mayo Clinic suggests volunteering as a beneficial way to make friends and improve social well-being.
“Volunteering fosters more connected and less isolated older adults,” said Atalaya Sergi, director at AmeriCorps Seniors. “Our research, focused on the impact of our programs, finds volunteering can provide positive health and well-being outcomes. In our study, 84% of participants reported stable or improving health and 88% had lower feelings of isolation within one year of volunteering. Each year, we match more than 143,000 Americans with volunteer opportunities, helping build connections and address societal issues, nurturing real relationships that help people become both happier and more fulfilled.”
Adults ages 55 and up, like Brosnan, can be matched with local volunteer organizations fitting their interests, skills and availability through AmeriCorps Seniors, the nation’s largest national service program for older adults, which offers three signature programs. Brosnan and other volunteers nationwide play crucial roles in community resilience and connectedness.
“RSVP volunteers, such as Shelley, take on diverse activities based on community need such as delivering meals, supporting veterans and military families, cleaning parks or helping with tax prep and financial literacy,” Sergi said. “Our Foster Grandparent Program pairs volunteers with youth, in mentoring and tutoring relationships. Lastly, the Senior Companion Program is a way to give a helping hand to other older adults and those with disabilities, assisting them with day-to-day tasks, such as grocery shopping and transportation to appointments. They also support caregivers through respite services.”
The time commitment for all programs is flexible, ranging from a few hours to 40 hours per week.
Research studies like the Harvard University Study of Adult Development, found that older adults who invest in, care for and develop the next generation are three times as likely to be happy as those who did not. Volunteers Francois Mwabi and Jerome Menyo, based in Kentwood, Mich., are two more examples of the difference it can make to serve.
Mwabi and Menyo attest to the joy of impacting youth by passing on their wisdom and sharing their culture and language with students, many of whom are refugees from different parts of Africa just as Mwabi and Menyo themselves were several years ago. The two volunteers are so popular among the students and staff that teachers had to work out a schedule for all their students to be able to spend time with them.
One of the reasons the program has such a positive impact is the intergenerational connections it helps establish. Benefits abound not only for the young, but particularly for the volunteers.
“We love being here because of the environment and the students who study here,” Menyo said. “The teachers like us. I help students who speak my language. I enjoy it and they enjoy it, too.”
Intragenerational pairings are fruitful and fulfilling, as well.
Masa Hunley of Philadelphia eagerly anticipates the time she spends with Deborah Washington, a Senior Companion Program volunteer. Washington, a retired mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service, was active before retirement and saw no reason to slow down after leaving full-time work. She was paired with Hunley three years ago.
Washington thinks of Hunley warmly, “almost as a grandma.” She spends a few hours twice a week with Hunley, helping her with meal prep, getting to appointments, watching television or playing cards together.
Serving as a companion to Hunley is “just something that I enjoy doing, as if it was my mom or my grandmom, who have both passed,” Washington said. “It’s like serving them and praying that, if it was my mom or my grandmom, someone would be doing the same thing. It has to be in your heart.”
Washington is also thankful for the opportunity Hunley provides for “loving up on her” and feels fortunate to be able to soak up the wisdom that Hunley has learned and earned.
To be matched to rewarding volunteer opportunities near you, visit AmeriCorps.gov/YourMoment.
SOURCE:
AmeriCorps Seniors
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New hybrid event aims to give grieving audiences meaningful holiday viewing, with films from more than 25 countries and a mission centered on love, loss, and emotional truth.
A new film festival debuting in late 2026 is taking a different approach to holiday entertainment. Grief Fest™: The Grief Film Festival, created by My Grief Angels Inc., is being introduced as what organizers believe is the world’s first film festival dedicated entirely to grief, remembrance, resilience, and healing.
The hybrid festival will run in two segments: November 25–29, 2026, during Thanksgiving week, and December 24, 2026, through January 3, 2027, during Christmas and New Year’s. Top Honors films will be announced on December 31, 2026.
Organizers say the timing is intentional. Research cited in the announcement shows that grief and loneliness are major holiday stressors for many Americans, making the season especially difficult for people coping with loss. In that context, Grief Fest™ is positioning itself as an alternative to the flood of traditional feel-good holiday programming.
The festival is open to short films, features, documentaries, experimental work, AI-generated projects, and VR experiences. It is described as inclusive, non-religious, and LGBTQ+ friendly, with submissions already received from more than 25 countries. All films will be presented in English, either spoken or subtitled.
Grief Fest™ will be available both in person and virtually through Film Festival Plus, making it accessible to audiences worldwide. The launch of GriefFest.com also includes Lumen, a multilingual AI guide designed to help filmmakers and attendees navigate the festival in their preferred language.
Rather than focusing on industry prestige, organizers say the festival is centered on community and emotionally honest storytelling. For audiences who feel unseen during the holidays, Grief Fest™ is aiming to offer something rare on the seasonal screen: recognition.
Source: PR Newswire
Related Reading
- Grief Fest: Official festival site
- My Grief Angels Inc.: About the nonprofit behind the festival
- Film Festival Plus: Virtual access platform
Catch the latest in movies, TV, music, pop culture, and live events in STM Daily News’ Entertainment section.
As the United States moves toward the 250th anniversary of its independence, a new public storytelling project is asking Americans to answer a big question: what does the American Dream mean today?
McCourt Entertainment has launched America-Dreams.com at SXSW as a digital platform designed to collect video submissions from people across the country. The goal is ambitious: gather one million voices reflecting on hope, opportunity, and what Americans want the future of the country to look like.
The initiative is tied to AMERIGO, an upcoming documentary presented by South Florida PBS and distributed by American Public Television. The film, which will be available to PBS stations nationwide beginning in June as part of 2026 programming tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary, explores the past, present, and future of the American Dream through conversations with people across the United States.
According to the project team, selected user-submitted videos may become part of the broader AMERIGOstorytelling effort, turning the campaign into more than a promotional rollout. Instead, it is being framed as a living archive of public voices gathered during a milestone moment in American history.
South Florida PBS President and CEO Dolores Fernandez Alonso said the goal is to make the anniversary feel inclusive and participatory.
“To celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, we wanted to do something truly remarkable and invite all Americans to share their hope for the American Dream at America-Dreams.com,” Alonso said. “We are extremely proud of the cross-section of voices from across our nation and we want to capture these stories, experiences and perspectives so that people feel included in this historic national conversation.”
Emmy Award-winning producer David McCourt said the project builds on the documentary team’s nationwide reporting.
“As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, this project asks a simple but powerful question: ‘What is your hope for the American Dream?’” McCourt said. “We want to hear directly from people across the country.”
The campaign arrives at a moment when interactive documentary projects and audience participation are becoming a larger part of public media storytelling. With AMERIGO, the combination of a PBS documentary and a nationwide video submission initiative gives the project a broader cultural footprint than a traditional film release.
Submissions are now open at America-Dreams.com. A trailer for AMERIGO is also available on Vimeo.
For entertainment audiences, the project stands out less as a conventional documentary launch and more as a large-scale invitation to participate in a national media moment ahead of America’s semiquincentennial.
Catch the latest in movies, TV, music, pop culture, and live events in STM Daily News’ Entertainment section.
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Viewpoint Hosted by Dennis Quaid Brings Attention to a Little-Understood Condition Affecting Families Nationwide
A new Viewpoint hosted by Dennis Quaid segment with APFED raises awareness of eosinophilic esophagitis, its subtle symptoms, and its impact on families.
For more information, readers can visit viewpointproject.com and apfed.org.
For many families, health conditions do not always begin with a dramatic diagnosis. Sometimes they show up in small, everyday habits that seem easy to explain away. Cutting food into tiny bites. Drinking extra water with every meal. Quietly avoiding certain foods altogether. A new educational segment from Viewpoint hosted by Dennis Quaid is shining a light on those subtle warning signs through a collaboration with the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders, helping more people recognize the realities of living with eosinophilic esophagitis, or EoE.
Viewpoint hosted by Dennis Quaid
The segment, distributed to Public Television stations across the country, focuses on making this chronic inflammatory condition easier for the public to understand. For viewers, that matters because EoE is often misunderstood or overlooked, even as it affects daily routines, family meals, and quality of life. By connecting medical information to real-life experiences, the program gives audiences a more human picture of what people with the condition may be facing.
When everyday habits tell a bigger story
Eosinophilic esophagitis occurs when eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, build up in the esophagus, causing inflammation that can lead to tissue damage and narrowing. But what stands out most in this story is not just the science. It is the way people often adapt without realizing it. Behaviors like chewing excessively, avoiding certain textures, or relying on liquids to help swallow can become so routine that they no longer feel unusual.
That is one reason the segment carries real community value. It encourages people to look more closely at symptoms that may have been normalized for years and to seek evaluation from specialists such as gastroenterologists or allergists. It also raises awareness among parents, caregivers, and primary care providers who may be the first to notice that something is not quite right.
More than awareness
The program also explores the emotional and social side of the condition, especially for people navigating dietary restrictions and the uncertainty of delayed diagnosis. In that sense, this is not only a story about medicine. It is also a story about advocacy, support, and the importance of helping people feel seen.
APFED Executive Director Mary Jo Strobel noted that many people with EoE do not realize they have adapted their lives around a medical condition. That message gives the segment its strongest human element: awareness can change lives, not only by leading to diagnosis, but by helping families better understand experiences that may have felt isolating or confusing.
Originally distributed in January 2025, the documentary will continue to be made available to stations through March 2027, extending its reach to more households nationwide.
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Read more from STM Daily News on community issues, public television, health awareness, and stories that connect national topics to everyday life.
For More Information
- Visit the official Viewpoint hosted by Dennis Quaid website
- Learn more about the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders
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