A Thank You from AARP National Volunteer President Alicia Georges

As my term as AARP’s National Volunteer President draws to a close, I want to express to each one of you my deep appreciation for your wonderful service as an AARP volunteer.

It has been one of the great joys of my life to join with our volunteers in every state, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands in helping to make life better for older adults. I have been greatly impressed by the experience, talent, teamwork, and passion you have brought to these efforts in communities across our country.

You have been a great source of help and hope.

So many of you have made virtual connections to vulnerable older adults at this very difficult time when social isolation is so widespread. You have advocated on the state and national levels to lower prescription drug prices—helped to build livable communities that work well for people of all ages— protected older adults against fraud—and gotten engaged in so many other ways. You have made a very positive difference in people’s lives.

I have been struck by how AARP volunteers listen closely to the people you serve and listen closely to each other. Listening remains an underappreciated attribute, and in this way, as in so many other ways, you make a crucial contribution.

As we grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, we learn anew a fundamental lesson: how much our fate is bound up with those around us—not only those whom we know, but those we will never see and who may be especially vulnerable. It reminds us how much we depend on each other and how much we need to care for each other.

These are life lessons that AARP volunteers understand so well and carry out through your service.

For more than 60 years, volunteers have been at the heart of AARP. Because of you, that capacity and compassion remain a tremendous strength of the organization today and make me hopeful that AARP will continue to be an enlightened, thoughtful, deeply engaged, and highly effective force for positive social change for many years to come.

So as I look back with pride and affection, I also look ahead confident that you will continue to make the personal connections, look out for those who are vulnerable, and drive the policy changes to help older adults meet challenges and unlock new opportunities.

While I am stepping down as National Volunteer President, I will never step away from the work we have shared and the battles we have waged. Thank you for all that you do and all that you have taught me over the past two years.