Care Connection for Aging Services is honoring its volunteers in 23 locations this month in conjunction with National Volunteer Week from April 23 to 29.

Care Connection’s 1,800-plus volunteers are vital to the operation of its senior centers in 13 counties. Volunteer roles in senior centers range from receptionist and dining room host to food server and dishwasher. Volunteers deliver meals to the homebound and drive homebound seniors to their medical visits. They also run recreational events and teach fitness classes.

Volunteers work as educators in the statewide Missouri SMP (Senior Medicare Patrol) and as options counselors in Medicare Part D enrollment. They make the long-term care ombudsman program and tax assistance program possible.

“You name a volunteer’s skill set, and we can name a role for that person,” said Diana Hoemann, Executive Director for Care Connection.

The Retired Senior and Volunteer Program (RSVP) has seniors who serve in the centers and in the community in five counties – Benton, Cedar, Henry, Hickory and St. Clair.

These volunteers are part of something much bigger.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, volunteers age 65 and older have the highest average of annual hours of service — 94 hours — of any age group.

Research shows that doing good is good for you.

Older adults who volunteer for as little as two hours a week reap major health benefits such as reduced depression and chronic pain and increased mental function and longevity.

If you want to find a volunteer role in one of our 23 locations, call your nearest center or our office at 1-800-748-7826 or visit www.goaging.org.

Care Connection, a nonprofit area agency on agency, operates 23 locations in 13 counties, including: Bates, Benton, Carroll, Cedar, Chariton, Henry, Hickory, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, Saline, St. Clair, and Vernon. The mission is to provide resources and services that empower people to create healthy aging experiences.

Here is a list of centers operated by Care Connection:

• Butler Senior Center, Butler, 660-679-5830.

• Kern Senior Center, Rich Hill, 417-395-2225.

• Cole Camp Senior Center, Cole Camp, 660-668-2352.

• Warsaw Senior Center/Harbor Village, Warsaw, 660-438-3300.

• Carroll County Senior Center, Carrollton, 660-542-0399.

• El Dorado Springs Senior Center, El Dorado Springs, 417-876-5574

• Korth Center, Stockton, 417-276-5306.

• Brunswick Senior Center, Brunswick, 660, 548-3010.

• Salisbury Senior Center, Salisbury, 660-388-5431.

• Clinton Senior Center, Clinton, 660-885-3482

• Windsor Senior Center, Windsor, 660-647-3224.

• McCarty Senior Center, Wheatland, 417-282-6100.

• Holden Senior Center, Holden, 816-732-5757

• Warrensburg Senior Center, Warrensburg, 660-747-2624.

• Concordia Senior Center, Concordia, 660-463-7393.

• Higginsville Senior Center, Higginsville, 660-584-7040.

• Margaret Gray Center, Lexington, 660-259-2025.

• Odessa Senior Center, Odessa, 816-633-4161.

• Sedalia Senior Center, Sedalia, 660-826-0713.

• Marshall Senior Center, Marshall, 660-886-9888.

• Rivers Crossing Life Center, Osceola, 417-646-8292.

• Neal Center, Nevada, 417-667-5847.