Bruce Bottorff

AARP Hawaii is accepting nominations for its annual Andrus Award for Community Service. The award honors residents age 50-plus who share their experience, talent, and skills to enrich the lives of others in the community. The 2015 Andrus Award recipient will be honored at an event later this year.

Every two seconds a con artist steals somebody's identity. In the last year alone, Americans lost $18 billion of their hard-earned dollars to fraud, identity theft and scams. What tricks do con artists use to steal your money? How can you outsmart them before they strike?

The following opinion column appeared in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Insight section on May 24, 2015

AARP Hawaii is teaming up with state and federal agencies in the fight against fraud with educational events in Kahului (4/30) and Honolulu (5/1). Document shredding events will follow on three islands on Saturday, May 2. The events are intended to arm residents against the threat of identity theft, investment fraud, and related scams that rake in billions of dollars across the country each year.

Proponents of a bill to support family caregivers are continuing their push – in the community and at the state Legislature – to ensure that the voices of Hawaii’s caregivers 247,000 are heard.

In late March more than 800 people in Kona, Kahului and Honolulu attended events for family caregivers and residents preparing to care for their aging loved ones. The events were aimed at familiarizing residents with community resources available to care for older friends and family members – as well as plan for their own future needs.

AARP Hawaii will present free screenings of the critically acclaimed film Still Alice, at the Honolulu Museum of Art’s Doris Duke Theater and at the Maui Arts and Culture Center’s McCoy Studio in Kahului on Thursday, June 18.

AARP Hawaii honors the memory of Social Security champion and former AARP President Marie Smith (2004-2006), who died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, April 19. The long-time Maui resident had been living in Las Vegas near family members in recent years.

AARP Hawaii and the Hawaii Occupational Therapy Association are sponsoring a free CarFit event at Catholic Charities Hawaii in Makiki on Saturday, May 2 (8 a.m. – noon). The event is designed to provide older drivers with a comprehensive checkup of how well they ‘fit’ their vehicle. It takes about 20 minutes to complete the checklist. The event is free and open to the public but registration is required – call Catholic Charities Hawaii to schedule an appointment at 527-4777.

AARP Hawaii will reach out by telephone to about 45,000 of its members across the state on Saturday, April 18 (9:05 – 10:05 a.m.) for a conversation about avoiding financial fraud and identity theft. The call marks the launch of AARP’s Fraud Watch Network in Hawaii, an educational effort aimed at arming residents with the tools to spot and avoid falling victim to fraud. The public can access the call via live audio streaming.