Two AARP Volunteers Making Difference In Our Community

Janet Lam-Rogers of Seattle and her husband Toby Rogers are a volunteering power couple. Janet volunteers for the AARP Foundation’s Tax-Aide program two days a week, where she helps low-income taxpayers file their taxes at the Ballard and Shoreline libraries. Toby works in the Foundation’s Fraud Fighter Call Center in north Seattle, which helps battle financial scams.

“I think volunteering is very important for people who retire,” says Toby. “It keeps your mind active, it keeps your body active and it keeps you involved in the community so I think it’s very important to be a volunteer after you retire. I know we’ve got a lot out of volunteering.”

Janet is such a tremendous volunteer that she won the AARP Andrus Award for Community Service in 2011.

“Volunteering means to me to that I spend my time doing things I enjoy and at the same time I'm able to help people,” says Janet. “It’s an opportunity to give back because I feel I’ve been very blessed. Now that I have the time, I’m able to spend the time to go do something to help the community and the people around me. And now that I’m volunteering with several different agencies, I’m learning a lot of different things and learning about my community at the same time.

Besides AARP, Janet volunteers with a local foodbank, builds houses for Habitat for Humanity, and works in disaster relief with the American Red Cross.

“Volunteering makes you feel good mentally and physically,” says Janet.

Thank you to all our volunteers who do so much for AARP and our community. To find out how you can volunteer with AARP Washington, please click here to find out all the ways you can serve.