Keeping busy and staying productive is a great way to feel young. This summer I was doing volunteer work in Israel. I was on an Army base there performing non-military, non-combat, apolitical volunteer work. To my surprise I noticed that many retired people in Israel come on a regular basis to work on Israeli Army bases as civilian volunteers.
Volunteers save the Israeli military a lot of money and enable Israeli reserve soldiers to serve in the line of duty, while the volunteers perform non-combat tasks. [Sar-El] volunteers inspect medical equipment, remove expired medical supplies and replace them with [items that are up to date.] I also had to count supplies and put them in plastic bags to be sealed for packaging.
During my time off I joined other volunteers from the United States, Canada, Europe and New Zealand and visited museums that had historical displays about the history of Israel before it became a state. The museums I saw gave me a perspective [into how an] idea turned into a reality.
The purpose of my article is to allege that age is what one makes out of life. Sometimes having less may lead [one] to becoming more productive. I am grateful to the United States authorities who in recognizing and supporting this program give people like me an opportunity to participate and [make a contribution] that is beneficial to both the United States and Israel.
