YOUNGSTOWN — Just as her life was changing, Patricia Fagan found fulfillment with a routine she won’t now go without.

Widowed and an empty nester, she sought out volunteer opportunities.

“I was looking for something to give myself purpose,” Fagan said.

During a trip to Columbus around the time her granddaughter was born, Fagan took a phone call about a volunteer position and was hired on the spot as a reading tutor at Campbell Elementary School.

That’s when she became involved in the Foster Grandparent Program, still at CES.

“It’s been a wonderful match,” she said.

She’s in her third year working with first-grade students. Before that, she worked with kindergarten and second graders.

“I’m ecstatic as I sit there and listen to them read,” she said.

Retired from the Youngstown Playhouse as the youth theater director, Fagan, 77, has no plans to leave anytime soon.

“It’s made a difference in my life,” she said.

Fagan was one of 50 senior volunteers from the Mahoning Valley to be recognized during an annual luncheon in Youngstown in late April.

Volunteers from Fosters Grandparents, Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and Senior Support Action Group were recognized April 26 at First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown. All the groups are part of AmeriCorps Seniors.

It was a way to spotlight people who give much of their time.

Many volunteers at the luncheon give at least 20 hours a week, said Jessica Sabin, director of Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs.

“You’re talking about a huge investment of time,” she said. “They’re all 55 and older.”

The army of senior volunteers loves connecting with others, but it also keeps them engaged, Sabin said.

RSVP was founded in 1965, the same year as Medicare, Gerard Kelly, RSVP director, said.

It was intended as a “double benefit,” minimizing healthcare costs lower, he said, by keeping seniors active.

“It’s an added bonus to the community as well as a bonus ot the volunteers themselves for having an active lifestyle,” Kelly said.

Some RSVP volunteers have been giving their time for nearly two decades, Sabin said, whether it’s with Trumbull County Mobile Meals, food pantries, libraries or shelters.

“They volunteer as often as they can,” Sabin said.

Helping with literacy activities, like Fagan, Foster Grandparents work in schools, shelters and libraries with at-risk children.

It’s a type of mentorship for the children who have a defacto grandparent in the volunteers, providing “a little extra love and support,” Sabin said.

Foster grandparents oftentimes share “at least” 20 hours a week, and if there’s a day they have to miss, it impacts them.

“They’re hugely dedicated. They agonize when they can’t make it,” Sabin said.

Encompassing the “double benefit,” 81-year-old Ed Bellin of Warren enjoys helping people.

He was a transportation volunteer through the Senior Support Action Group, which is part of Family and Community Services, and delivered for Mobile Meals.

The retired engineer from Packard Electric enjoys helping people.

“With Mobile Meals, I’ve run into so many situations where people needed help,” he said.

Sometimes as he’s dropping off meals, he immediately sees the impact his volunteering has.

It’s a social event for those he’s dropping off food to, Bellin said.