When boomertechadventures.com was launched nearly 10 years ago, we identified “three C’s” for our new organization. We strive to be creative, communicate often and contribute to the common good. As educators, our focus has been to use creativity when communicating with students, contributing to their future success. As repurposed baby boomers, each of us at BoomerTECH Adventures has found different avenues for contributing to our communities. The internet has made it easier to locate and support a wide range of organizations and causes we believe in. Here are some ways we contribute to the quality of life in our communities.

As a result of the pandemic, co-founder Ed Brazee became the go-to tech guy at his church as they went to remote services. He has also supported recent refugees settling into his local community by contributing to the Maine Multicultural Center based in Bangor (mainemulticulturalcenter.org). The Maine Multicultural Center is a community-driven group representing Bangor-area business, cultural and educational organizations. They promote community enrichment and economic growth by attracting, retaining, supporting and integrating people of diverse cultures and backgrounds into greater Bangor. Other favorite organizations Ed supports are his local land trust (oronolandtrust.org) and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra (bangorsymphony.org).

When BTA co-founder Jill Spencer isn’t writing helpful blog posts and recording videos for our extensive library of online courses, she volunteers as a technology presenter for the Mid-Coast Retired Educators Association. The MCREA supports the Sept. 11 Day of Giving, awards scholarships to local students planning on studying education and provides grants to local classroom teachers. They communicate with local principals and guidance counselors. Another worthy organization is Maine Needs (maineneeds.org). Here’s information from their about section: “We strive to help individuals and families in Maine meet their basic, material needs by providing donated clothing, hygiene products, household items and other necessities. We focus our work on those starting life over from scratch: domestic abuse survivors, asylum-seekers and those facing financial hardships. We partner with schools, caseworkers, teachers, nurses and professional care providers to provide these material resources.” Another opportunity for contributing time or money is Hospice (hospicefoundation.org). Their website describes Hospice as medical care for people with an anticipated life expectancy of six months or less when cure isn’t an option, and the focus shifts to symptom management and quality of life.

BTA co-founder Chris Toy helps prepare meals each month at the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program (mchpp.org). MCHPP offers dignity and empowerment by providing all members of our community with access to healthy food. Like Ed and Jill, Chris supports a variety of environmental, educational and charitable efforts, such as Friends of Baxter State Park (friendsofbaxter.org), The Bicycle Coalition of Maine (bikemaine.org) and The Maine College Circle (mainecollegecircle.org). Most recently, he did an online cooking class to support Oasis Free Clinics (oasisfreeclinics.org), a nonprofit, no-cost, primary-care medical practice and dental clinic, providing exceptional, patient-centered care to uninsured members of our community.

We here at BTA believe there are many of ways of contributing to make our communities better places to live no matter what stage of life we’re in. We encourage you to visit the websites of the organizations we support. More importantly, think about what you care about in your community and explore ways you can contribute by donating your time, energy or resources. And remember, the latest research shows that staying creative, communicating with others regularly and contributing to causes you believe in helps keep our minds sharp!

BoomerTECH Adventures (boomertechadventures.com) provides expert guidance and resources to help Boomers and older adults develop competence and confidence using their Apple devices. Boomers themselves, BoomerTECH Adventures rely on their skills as educators to create experiences that meet individual needs through videos, Zoom presentations, tech tips and timely blog posts.