Volunteering

By Hayley Hervieux

We are pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the 2013 AARP District of Columbia Andrus Award for Community Service -- AARP’s most prestigious and visible state volunteer award for community service.

Deadline for 2013 Andrus Award nominations is June 1.

Do you want to make a DIFFERENCE? AARP New Jersey has many opportunities for you to do so. Check out just a few of the opportunities we have. See one you're interested in? Contact AARPNJ@AARP.ORG / 1-866-542-8165 to get started!

According to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey, there are nearly 122,000 households in Southeastern Pennsylvania that must reduce the size of meals or skip meals entirely, because they cannot afford to purchase adequate amounts of food. These statistics, among others, serve as a platform for AARP - in partnership with the AARP Foundation - to award several micro-grants to Philadelphia based community organizations aiding the costs of serving the vulnerable 50+ in the fight against hunger.

By filling up grocery bags with non-perishable food items and leaving it at their mailboxes, AARP members and partners collected over 395,429 pounds of food for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina’s 34-county service area.

It’s no surprise that Barbara Service is one of AARP Hawaii’s most active advocates and president of the Honolulu Chapter. It runs in the family.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and representatives from the City of Bridgeport joined AARP volunteers and Tri-State Transportation Campaign staff on May 13, 2013 to conduct a “walkability audit” of East Main Street in Bridgeport between Crescent Avenue and Stillman Street. The audit was conducted to help identify pedestrian access and safety issues in an area that includes the East Side Senior Center and a planned future senior center, as well as a Greater Bridgeport Transit bus route (Route 9) and several small businesses.

Here's another poignant poem by Topeka writer and AARP volunteer Annette Billings!

In 2007, a Washington University research study confirmed what volunteers have been consistently saying all along. AARP Experience Corps volunteers become more active and energetic as they participate in the program. From the study: “At the end of the academic year, about two-thirds of the low-activity group was classified as high-activity, as they became more active in non-Experience Corps activities. “