Fraud Watch Network Centerpiece at Carver Day Celebration

AARP in Kansas City volunteers created a stir with Fraud Watch Network resources at the 2016 Carver Day Celebration held at the Freedom School at Mt. Pleasant M.B. Church on July 9. The event was in celebration of the 1943 establishment of the George Washington Carver National Monument and also recognized the 100th birthday of the National Parks Service.

AARP in Kansas City Team Leader Tonya Holmes spearheaded the presence of AARP and was joined at the exhibit space by Missouri Volunteer President Sidney McCarther and volunteer Jinny Hopp from Carthage. The Carver celebration featured programs interpreting the life of George Washington Carver, musical renditions, storytelling, and a junior ranger station. The focus of the AARP exhibit was the Fraud Watch Network and the resources  offered for free to young and old.

"This venue was great for AARP," said Holmes. "We were able to interact and engage with many adults younger than 50 years of age and lots of children who were very receptive to us. The older adults told us they were glad to see us at this event." More than 1000 individuals attended the celebration sponsored by the National Park Service.

The George Washington Carver National Monument is a unit of the National Park System and is located near Diamond, MO. The site preserves the boyhood  home of the famous educator and inventor who is well known for transforming the peanut into useful products such as glue, dyes, paper, cosmetics, ink and more.  The national monument was founded on July 14, 1943 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and is the first national monument dedicated to a black American. To learn more about this great American and the national monument, visit http://www.nps.gov/gwca/. The official 100th birthday of the National Park Service is August 25, 2016.