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Study Says Health Benefits Come To Senior Volunteers

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You've probably heard of AmeriCorps, but did you know there's also Senior Corps? A new study of senior volunteers by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency which oversees both, now says there's a connection between volunteering and a boost in health and well-being for seniors.  Tampa Meals on Wheelsvolunteer Lloyd Perlman is living proof that volunteering can be life-affirming. He said he's found inspiration in acts of service. Early on, he delivered a meal to a 97-year-old man.    "I at the time was 63, and he was out cutting the lawn and doing everything else. And I turned to him and said, 'you inspire me, because you're telling me I still have a third of my life to live and live it happily,' as he was living," Perlman said. Perlman said in the seven years he's been delivering food for Meals on Wheels, he's gotten close to some of the recipients. Sometimes he even takes his grandchildren along to visit them.  

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Susan Giles Wantuck is our midday news host, and a producer and reporter for WUSF Public Media who focuses her storytelling on arts, culture and history.