“Being productive feels good”

Joop Stoel (69) has been actively volunteering at the Dienstencentrum Landsmeer for eighteen years, several days a week.Wild Adventure“I used to be in the Merchant Navy, then worked as a driver, until my wife said it was time to be home more. I then started working at a car paint factory, starting as a jack-of-all-trades and worked my way up to branch manager. Unfortunately, at a fairly young age, I was forty, I was declared unfit for work after several serious back surgeries.”Music and bingo“Once when my daughter was playing a korfball match in Landsmeer and I urgently needed to make a phone call, I entered the Landsmeer Service Center. I liked the atmosphere there. I was asked to help out as a volunteer. At first, I thought I wouldn’t fit into the group, I was forty at the time. But I went to watch a few more times and then started delivering meals. I ran Restaurant 2000 together with fellow volunteers, which was a meal for residents of Landsmeer, Purmerland, and Den Ilp that we provided once a month with music and bingo.”

For me, it’s a sport to keep the budget low!

I meet people with different perspectives, you learn from that