A Lifetime of Service

Peter Langmaid, RSVP Advisory Council

Next Chapter of Puget Sound is a consortium of Seattle community nonprofits providing meaningful work, service, learning and self discovery opportunities to those in midlife and beyond. In the April and May issues of Seniors Digest, we saw how Margie King Bloch and Cookie Petersen discovered their own Next Chapters. This month, we introduce a volunteer extraordinaire who is now taking on a new challenge!

Because of her bulging schedule, I met Lillian Hayashi at the RSVP (Retired and Seniors Volunteer Program) offices. Lillian was there to help with a mailing, and she had just enough time before her next meeting to talk with me for a few minutes.

Knowing Lillian’s reputation for community service, I intended to begin our interview by telling her how pleased I was to meet her. Before I could speak, Lillian told me how honored she was to be the subject of an article. And that’s Lillian: when it comes to respect and kindness, it’s hard to preempt her. 

Lillian grew up in Seattle. Her parents were busy rebuilding their lives after time in a relocation camp and had little time for volunteering themselves, but Lillian says, “They always emphasized the importance of being kind and respectful of others.”

While at Garfield High School, Lillian was a member of Purple Paw, the school’s scholastic and community service girls’ club. She worked with deaf and blind children. To teach the deaf and blind, Lillian had to put herself in their place, a skill that takes both imagination and empathy, and a skill she has cultivated her whole life.

In 1975 Lillian began her tenure at Nikkei Concerns (then Issei Concerns), starting as a volunteer and later a board member. She became a staff member in 1983 and, except for a couple of brief interludes, served there for the next 30+ years. Nikkei Concerns, a non-profit, provides culturally sensitive senior services in the Japanese community.

A licensed Nursing Home Administrator, Lillian rose to become the organization’s Community Services Administrator, developing and overseeing four core programs: Kokoro Kai, a senior day social program; the Nikkei Horizons continuing adult education program; Volunteer Services (recruiting and supporting volunteers); and KIDcare intergenerational childcare learning center. When it comes to seniors, Lillian knows what she’s talking about. 

When asked why she’s such a devoted and committed volunteer, Lillian cites two reasons. One, she’s “inspired by people who are involved.” And the more she volunteers the more inspired she gets. This creates a bit of a problem for Lillian, because with her background and reputation, she is constantly recruited to more volunteer opportunities. “I have to pick and choose,” she says.

The second reason Lillian volunteers is more private. As she puts it, Lillian volunteers “from the heart.” She believes that helping people less fortunate or less able is a fundamental human instinct, and she believes her role in life is community service.    

Lillian first heard about RSVP at a Healthy Aging Partnership meeting. Lillian immediately embraced the RSVP mission: “To meet critical community needs by linking people 55 and over with volunteer opportunities that respond to those needs and to support and recognize their service.” Lillian says, “RSVP gives seniors an opportunity to find out what other things there are in life. Volunteering improves the quality of your life.” She adds, “Being active extends potential.” Lillian also likes the fact that RSVP is established, connected, and ready to serve.  

Lillian’s primary role with RSVP will be outreach to all local Asian Pacific Islander (API) communities (Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, etc.), sharing with them the wonderful opportunities and benefits of volunteering and helping them get involved in volunteerism. She looks forward to this challenge, because Lillian has a real passion for reaching out into the community. From experience, she knows that outreach is like fishing: you’ll never catch anything if you don’t go where the fish are!

The first step in Lillian’s plan is to find out where these various API communities congregate—where they go to worship, where they celebrate holidays and festivals, where they socialize, etc. Then it’s the task of communicating with each community in a way that is culturally sensitive, respectful, and appropriate. The messages she will share are that the aging process is a beginning, not an end, and that the power of volunteering is that it simultaneously provides assistance to those in need, service to the community, and gives more meaning to the life of the volunteer. Volunteers are energized and the self-satisfaction is immeasurable. Lillian adds that community service also gives you a unique perspective and appreciation of your own life.

Lillian is humbled by all the recognition she has received, especially recently, for her years of tireless community service, and she is quick to point out that it wouldn’t have been possible except for the support of her husband, Roy. “He could have told me my place was in the home, and that would have been that,” she says. But he didn’t, and the community is better off as a result. “I even get him to help me by running errands,” reports Lillian.

Lillian’s outreach extends beyond seniors, though, because she wants younger individuals to hear the message, too, with the hope that they will become lifelong community volunteers and make volunteering a family tradition. 

What Will Your Next Chapter Be?

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, June 26 to hear Marc Freedman, President of Civic Ventures, talk about his new book, Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life. Call City Club at (206) 682-7395 for information about the location.