Purposeful living and giving

KNOX Last week, a new study revealed that senior citizens who reported a greater level of purpose in life were substantially less likely to die during a three-year follow-up period as compared to people with a lower level of purpose in life. Dr. Patricia Boyle, a neuropsychologist at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and an assistant professor of behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, studied 1,238 older adults with an average age of 78 years, and who were all dementia-free when the study began.

When comparing scores, researchers found that individuals with a higher purpose in life had about half the risk of dying during the follow-up period as those individuals with a lower sense of purpose. Dr. Boyle was unable to identify the specific link between life purpose and longevity. But the recent death of Clarice Morant of Washington, D.C., provides additional credence to Dr. Boyle's study.

Clarice died last week at the age of 104. She was a primary caregiver of her brother Ira and her sister Rozzie. Both siblings needed assistance with feeding and bathing. Ira suffered from dementia and Rozzie had Alzheimer's disease. When interviewed in 2006, Clarice said that she made a promise to keep them out of a nursing home.

"I made a promise to the Lord," she explained. "If he give (sic) me the health, the strength, the life to do for them, take care of them, keep them from going in a home, I would do it. And as long as he give (sic) it to me, I will give it to them."

Perhaps Clarice's sole purpose in life in her later years was to ensure that her siblings enjoyed a compassionate and loving end-of-life existence surrounded by family and friends. This provided her with a few extra years of life to fulfill her work. Ira died in 2006. After her sister's death on Dec. 31, 2008, Clarice's own health began to deteriorate and she died last week at the age of 104.

What does this mean for the rest of us? The study reveals what appears to be intuitive knowledge. Plan your work and work your plan. But creating purpose in your life may not be just about creating busy work with a list of tasks to be checked off.

Clarice had very specific and meaningful interactions with her family members and a sense of duty and responsibility. From her promise above, it was clear that she was not simply going through the motions; she wanted to help her

family and provide them with love and care. The determination to see her siblings live in peace carried her also.

If you volunteer on a regular basis, think about the reasons why you volunteer. The mission or purpose of the nonprofit

must be compelling for

you to continue. Friendship, sense of community responsibility, connection to a cause: all of these are key reasons why people give freely of their time in exchange for meaningful experiences.

In addition, there is a strong relationship between volunteering and donating to a nonprofit. The longer a person volunteers, the more he or she will give in terms of frequency and amount. Nurturing volunteers by creating valuable jobs with purpose and meaning may prove to be financially beneficial for a nonprofit in the long-term. Giving money to support a charity is a natural extension of the action of volunteering if the volunteer experiences have a "purpose in life." But it may mean the difference of life and death for a nonprofit.

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has been supporting the communities of Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry counties through endowed funds for more than 33 years. With over 320 endowed funds, the Community Foundation has provided more than $39.5 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves. For more information, call 274-5900, or visit our Web site at www.floridacommunity. com.