Senior volunteers discover new meaning in life

Sun Hongyin got up at around 5 am on Friday and bought 70 pork chops and 3 kilograms of shrimp to prepare "longevity noodles" for the elderly in her community to celebrate the traditional Double Ninth Festival.

The festival, also known as the Chongyang Festival in China, fell on Sunday this year. It is an occasion to care for and send blessings to the elderly throughout China.

But in Shanghai, instead of waiting for others to care for them, some seniors including Sun chose to devote their time and energy to those older than themselves and find new meaning in life through mutual help.

Sun, 64, is the initiator of Baoyile, a volunteer group consisting of 17 residents. The youngest in the team is 58 years old and the oldest is 82 years old, and their average age is about 60.

Sun said the idea for the team took shape more than 10 years ago when she retired and found herself "without much to do".

"I wanted to do something for the elderly living alone in the community," Sun said.

With decades of experience working in the catering industry, she decided to cook dozens of zongzi and give the glutinous rice dumplings to the seniors in the community during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Gradually, Sun went from making dozens of zongzi to thousands, and her volunteer work also extended to providing on-call care for all the senior residents in the community. Some neighbors who had recently retired also joined her.

Wu Yuanmei, 66, got up at 4 am on Friday. After arranging her home affairs, she took the bus to join Baoyile's Double Ninth Festival activities. A former neighbor of Sun who has since moved more than 10 kilometers away, her enthusiasm for volunteer work remains unabated.

"Seeing these old folks is like seeing my own mother and also my future self," she said. "To care for them is to care for ourselves."

During holidays, members of the Baoyile team each make one or two dishes and snacks and deliver them to the elderly living alone in the neighborhood, as well as to sanitation workers and couriers.

The COVID-19 outbreak this year made it more difficult for seniors living alone to go out to shop for groceries, so the volunteer team members bought and delivered vegetables, meat and masks to the elderly and even gave them haircuts in their homes.

Sun planned some special activities for this year's Double Ninth Festival. The team and dozens of seniors in the community celebrated Sun Shuqin's 100th birthday in advance.

Wearing a birthday hat, Sun Shuqin kept repeating how happy she is. Mu Youfen, her daughter, said her mother was always excited to participate in such activities and urged her family to take her to the event early in the morning.

"If it weren't for such a team, we elderly people might rarely have the opportunity to get together," said Cao Yueping, a 61-year-old volunteer. "Although it takes some time and effort to prepare a meal each time, we don't find it hard but feel happy. It has been 10 years since I retired, and I now feel younger and happier."

Sun Hongyin said that the elderly can not only enjoy themselves but also help each other to find their own value through volunteering.

"I didn't expect to learn some new skills after retirement," said 58-year-old Li Qindi, a retired doctor. After joining the volunteer team, she learned how to make zongzi for the first time and shared basic medical knowledge with team members.

During her decade of volunteer work, Sun Hongyin has found that some elderly people living alone need special care, not only for life but also emotionally.

"We are still the 'little-old' people, and we need to care about those who are older than us," she said.

"When I call the senior residents, many of them are often reluctant to hang up. The elderly need more companionship and interaction."

There were over 5 million residents aged 60 and above in Shanghai last year, accounting for 35.2 percent of the city's population. In some downtown areas, the proportion is close to 40 percent.

Sun Hongyin said she hopes the group's volunteer work can inspire members of society, regardless of age, to give more care to the elderly. She also hopes that the mode of the elderly helping the elderly will go on because they will become happier by delivering care.

Xinhua