Maui Resident Peggy Sanches Receives 2012 AARP Andrus Award

Maui resident Peggy Sanches has been selected the Hawaii recipient of the 2012 Andrus Award for Community Service – AARP’s most prestigious volunteer recognition.  She accepted the award from AARP Hawaii State President Stuart Ho today at a recognition luncheon in Honolulu.  The Andrus Award is an annual award for exemplary volunteer leadership named after AARP’s founder Ethel Percy Andrus (1884-1967) who exemplified AARP’s motto: “To serve, not to be served.”

Since 2000, Sanches has served as a volunteer mentor in the Giving Back intergenerational mentoring program, Kupuna and Keiki Together, which pairs seniors with children in need of tutoring to help them develop interpersonal strengths, reading proficiency, and address behavioral issues such as hyperactivity.  Sanches is also involved with the Kupuna Kokua program, which gives frail elders an effective way to prevent injuries due to falls, a leading cause of fatalities and injury-related hospitalizations among Hawaii residents age 65 and older.

“As I approached retirement, I knew volunteer work would be at the forefront of what I wanted to do,” said Sanches, a former teacher.  “I had three major desires to fulfill: use the knowledge and talents I had acquired, learn and grow in my new endeavors, and have fun.”

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. We produce AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our bimonthly magazine in Spanish and English; NRTA Live & Learn, our quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S . Virgin Islands.