On October 25, 2011, I attended the community service fair in KCC. There were many tables set up with different volunteer opportunities in the Bridgewater community. One of the organizations that caught my attention was the Bridgewater Retirement Community. Helping my community back home has been something I've played a big part in, and I want to continue to lend my hand in Bridgewater. Since it is close to campus, I became very interested in helping the retirement community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Retirement communities are in sudden need of volunteer help, not only in Bridgewater but also throughout the United States. In 1945, when World War II ended, it was a time of great excitement and celebration. The soldiers were returning home from war and ready to start real lives with their families. An incredible number of couples decided that the best way to restart their lives was to have and raise children together. This caused a scandalous increase in the population due to all the excitement. Children born between 1946 and 1964 are known as baby boomers. Sixty-six years have passed since then, and that large population is now looking to retire and find homes that provide additional help and care. There are a huge number of seniors entering retirement communities; this wave of elderly people has resulted in the need for more help. Despite the growing need for help, there aren't many people available to help keep demand high and supply low. Due to the high demand for help in nursing homes, employers are willing to give a potential employee a higher salary to convince him to work in the nursing home. These higher salaries increase the cost of living in a nursing home, meaning that nursing home clients are forced to spend more of their savings. This is where volunteer service is needed; retirement communities are looking for someone to help them but they don't ask for money in return. It is difficult to find people to volunteer mainly because of the idea of ​​ageism, which means having prejudice against someone because of their age (GDAC 2011). Young people tend to discriminate against older people more than anyone else and these are the people who are needed to volunteer. GDAC states that the stereotype of lonely, forgetful and old-fashioned people is linked to the elderly (2011). This stereotype keeps many college and high school students from taking time out of their schedule to spend time with these “senile” seniors. Most students want to talk about the latest technologies or the latest gossip where retirees don't know much about the iPhone or your friends from home. This can create the image that older adults are boring people to talk to or be around because they cannot relate or share similar stories. Another thing that influences young people not to volunteer is the image that has been made of grumpy old men in films (GDAC 2011). When children are young and constantly watch movies about the unhappy old man who picks on kids, or shoots birds and is generally unpleasant, it portrays a bad image of what old people are really like. These two concepts can go a long way toward explaining the shortage of volunteers in retirement communities, although it's not just young people who volunteer. I plan to be one of the college students who stands up and goes to help my new community of Bridgewater with the many baby boomers who will soon.