Volunteering

During National Volunteer Month, we honor volunteers in Minnesota!

Lawmakers in Madison listen when AARP volunteers share their personal testimony.

In 2018, AARP Wyoming decided to transition one town into a Community Action Team (CAT), the first in the state. This was uncharted territory and the correct path to make this new attempt work was unclear. What was clear, however, was who stepped up to lead in this new endeavor, Barbra Summers, who stepped up and quickly made Casper’s CAT a hot spot for her community to get together.

Volunteer Council Provides Strategic Direction

When it comes to creating positive change, volunteers are well-positioned to partner with AARP North Dakota staff to build on the steady progress we’ve made. One of our priorities is supporting members who are interested in working on issues important to those 50-plus, such as caregiving, prescription drug coverage, and fraud protection at the state level. In addition to our ongoing work at the federal level (Social Security, Medicare, and prescription drug prices), we are also looking at what work we can do at the local level to make your community a better place for you and all.

“Our ‘active’ years were absorbed in the preliminaries of the business of living. Now, freed at last, we face the challenge of making a life rich in expression without friction and without futile desires. This existence today is life itself. …To savor the present, to squeeze out every bit of its flavor, its scent, its quality, to enjoy it is to live it to the full. It's folly to believe that tomorrow will be uniquely different from today. Today is ours! It will be significant as it is purposeful.”

WASHINGTON—AARP Community Connections, a new online platform launched by AARP Innovation Labs today, allows users to organize and find local volunteer groups to help pick up groceries, provide financial assistance or lend emotional support to neighbors, friends and loved ones. Across the country, these informal online groups—also called “mutual aid” groups—help communities stay connected at a time when people must practice social distancing to stay safe.

AARP advocates on policy issues that matter most to Marylanders age 50 and over and their families. In our state legislative advocacy, we rely on our hundreds of volunteers and more than 870,000 members across Maryland. Read on to learn what we focus on and how you can be a part of it!

WASHINGTON—As part of its robust response to the coronavirus pandemic, AARP announced today a $250,000 donation to Meals on Wheels America to support urgently needed outreach to isolated seniors. The gift is significant because it will allow Meals on Wheels America to boost the organizational capacity of the network to provide in-home meals to the most at-risk older population during this time of crisis. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that older Americans are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.

Guest blogger Megan Tracy Benson is deputy director of Empowering the Ages, an organization connecting older and younger generations in their communities in meaningful and mutually beneficial experiences.