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Before the pandemic, volunteerism was an essential source of socialization and meaningful engagement that supported many older adults’ physical and emotional health and resilience (Anderson et al., 2014; Lee et al., 2022; Filges et al., 2020; Stuart et al., 2020). The pandemic and associated social distancing measures tested the resilience, or ability to adapt and recover from adverse events (Lough, 2017; MacLeod et al., 2016), of older adults and communities as they dealt with the uncertainties and dangers presented by the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic and after, concerns have been raised about the potential adverse impact on older adults in terms of both their physical and emotional health as social distancing measures were put in place, and meaningful activities, such as volunteerism, were paused or suspended (Berg-Weger and Morley, 2020; Grotz et al., 2020; Wolman et al., 2022). Despite the disruptions, uncertainty and health risks, some older adults volunteered throughout the Covid-19 pandemic (Addario et al., 2022; Chan et al., 2021; Dury et al., 2023; Lee et al., 2021; Mak and Fancourt, 2022; Principi et al., 2022). Understanding how and why older adults volunteered during the pandemic can deepen our understanding of why volunteerism is so important to many older adults and how engagement in meaningful activities helps them cope and adapt in the face of adversity.
While we have begun to explore the impact of social distancing measures on the rates and types of volunteer engagement among older adults during the pandemic (Addario et al., 2022; Principi et al., 2022), limited attention has been given to capturing the experiences and resilience of older adult volunteers as they navigated uncertainties and changes and why they chose to volunteer despite the risks. In this qualitative study, we explored the experiences of 26 community-dwelling older adults in Southeastern North Carolina who were actively engaged in volunteer activities, at least an hour a week, prior to Covid-19 and how they adjusted to the disruptions caused by the pandemic. While infection rates in North Carolina were high in some counties, the area where participants resided had a lower case per capita rate than more urban counties (New York Times, 2023). Nonetheless, participants’ lives and volunteer...