Editor’s Note: This story is a part of a series titled The Gift which appeared in the March 2026 issue.
Many older adults are headed back to workplaces after retirement – not as staff, but as volunteers. Photo Credit Depositphotos
Originally from Colombia where he worked for 17 years as the chief information officer of a multinational paper manufacturing company, Julián Rengifo arrived in Canada in 2001 on a post-graduate scholarship at Capilano University.
After graduation, he ended up working for several companies, but always made time to do volunteer work, “mostly in the academic arena and with newcomers to the country,” says Rengifo.
When he retired in 2020, he decided it was time to become a full-time volunteer. “I’d actually heard about CUSO [International], and its work when I was doing my post-graduate work, and then in 2022, a friend mentioned he was volunteering in South America,” says Rengifo. “They were looking for skilled professionals and retirees. I decided to go for it.”
By 2023, Rengifo and his wife Anna Cristina were on their way to Colombia for a six-month posting to work with Afro-descendant and Indigenous rural communities along the Colombian-Pacific coast.
CUSO volunteer Julián Rengifo, left, and his wife Anna Cristina. Photo Courtesy Julián Rengifo
“I realized quickly that you had to be a jack-of-all-trades, especially with limited resources,” says Rengifo, who volunteered as a technology advisor.
“We did get results and make a difference – that was very satisfying.”
Rengifo and his wife are currently on a short hiatus from volunteering but will return to Cuso at the end of 2026. “Volunteering is part of our Canadian DNA,” says Rengifo, “and Cuso makes such an impact with its valuable work in so many countries. Sharing your skills not only helps improve communities around the globe, but you’ll also feel personally enriched and make lasting friendships around the world.”
Retirement hasn’t slowed Janice Manchee down. A singer all her life, Manchee, who has a background running national programs for the labour movement, accepted a volunteer post as the chair of Rideau Chorale three years ago. As her term comes to an end, she’s already accepted a leadership role with another charitable organization – the Ottawa branch of Therapeutic Paws of Canada.
Janice Manchee is the volunteer chair of the Rideau Chorale, shown here in rehearsal. Photo Credit Peter Polgar
“Volunteering is my way of giving back to the community,” says Manchee. “I share my voice and now I get to share my little dog Maisie with people needing a snuggle.”
Janice Manchee’s dog, Maisie, wears a Therapeutic Paws of Canada scarf. Photo Courtesy Janice Manchee
As a bonus, she meets new people and develops new social connections. “Retirement,” she says, “shouldn’t mean you stop learning or contributing.”
Volunteering helps retiree Tom Hicks “stay part of the village.”
“It’s satisfying to know you’re helping out,” says Hicks, who has been volunteering his data-processing and programming skills to several youth groups across the country since the 1990s, when he shared his skills with the Police Youth Centre. He ended up on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, where he noted that organizers needed help keeping track of their statistics for fundraising purposes. He created some programs, including one in 2006 to help keep young people out of the court system. It wasn’t long before other communities heard about his work. Hicks travelled to Grande Prairie, Alberta to set up a similar system.
“I was busy,” says Hicks, “but it was satisfying to know that these programs were helping youth in communities.” He also set up a reservation system for Christie Lake Kids and has provided expert input to the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston/Cornwall. Hicks also helped build systems for You Turn in Ottawa and the Phoenix Youth Programs in Halifax and continues to provide support to all the systems he builds – no small task.
Longtime BGC volunteer Tom Hicks. Photo Courtesy Tom Hicks
He retired from volunteering in 2003, but it didn’t take.
“I really missed the challenges and social interaction,” Hicks says. Even though he says he’ll retire in 2027, he plans to stay connected and encourages others to do the same. “There is so much expertise that can be shared [to] help support the community.”
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“I feel there is a need around the globe for the knowledge we have amassed during our working life. It’s kind of unfair not to share it when we still have health and energy to do so.”
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Julián Rengifo, volunteer, Cuso International