Volunteering

Nearly 1 in 8 residents of the nation’s capital struggle with hunger, and the annual AARP D.C. Drive to End Hunger aims to help. AARP is hosting an orientation Sept. 18 to train volunteers, who will greet shoppers and collect nonperishable food at area grocery stores Oct. 3-4. All donations will go to the Capital Area Food Bank and local pantries.

Looking for a way to give back? You can help under-performing students at risk of being held back in third grade by becoming an AARP Experience Corps volunteer tutor.

By Christina Hernandez Sherwood

By Tracy Sutton Schorn

By Miriam Davidson

By Hilary Appelman

By Tim Poor

Dedicating your time to help others is an altruistic way to make a difference in someone’s life. But who gets the most out of a volunteer experience – the volunteer or the recipient? Experience Corps recently sat down with two of their male DC-area volunteers, to learn more about their experiences with Experience Corps. Experience Corps is an AARP program that places adults age 50 and older in elementary schools to tutor and mentor students in reading and literacy. These men spoke about how the work has impacted their lives, as well as the lives of the children they reach.

(This story is by Margie Culbertson, an AARP Mississippi volunteer and freelance writer. Her photo is on the left.) - See more at: https://states.aarp.org/alzheimers-an-epidemic-with-hope-part-2/#sthash.RM2L7Z1z.dpuf

Living a vigorous life in service to others was how Sue Whitman was remembered during a memorial service in her honor on June 14, 2014 at Iona House. Sue died on March 27 th at the age of 103. She was buried next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery As a member of AARP DC’s Advocacy Team, Sue was a champion for long-term care for the elderly in Washington, DC. In addition to serving as an AARP volunteer, Sue donated her advocacy “muscle” to a number of the District’s groups working with older residents including: serving as founding President of the Volunteer Clearinghouse, working for ten years as an Iona House volunteer, and being a Commissioner on the DC Commission on Aging.