I have been averaging between 60 and 70 new volunteer applications a month for the past six months, but last month (November 2008) my new applications dropped to 35.  I feel like the stock market!  I'm waiting to see if the drop is just because of the holiday season or if the economy has put that much of a damper on volunteer activities.  Even though gas prices have taken a dramatic drop, my volunteers are still unwilling to drive more than 5-10 miles to volunteer with us.  With the unemployment rate going up I feel the people who would normally be a candidate to volunteer is now finding themselves without a job and volunteering is the last thing on their minds.  Going along with the stock market crash many boomers who are retiring or thinking about retiring are putting off their retirements until the economy improves.  I can't imagine preparing to retire and seeing my retirement account lose almost half it's value and my house is now worth 35% less than what it was a year ago.  Boomers are going to have to continue to work just to maintain the standard of living they have become accustomed to.  I think we need to take a look at how we can still capture the boomer volunteers and get them involved in some way shape or form, so when they do retire we already have a relationship started.  Any thoughts?

 Mark