Texans Heed Call for AARP Day of Service
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2004-05-27 15:34:00-04:00
Even though it poured down rain in most parts of the state on the National Day of Service, nothing could dampen the Texas spirit of volunteerism!
In Austin, AARP Texas staff and 15 volunteers visited six different assisted living and senior housing complexes across the city, where they made presentations and answered questions about voter registration, absentee ballot-by-mail procedures, Medicare Rx and the Medicare discount drug card.
In Dallas, the southwest regional and local AARP Texas staff volunteered for the day at the North Texas Food Bank, where they packed 264 boxes of food items for needy families.
In Houston, AARP Texas staff partnered with local volunteers and chapter members to receive and box food for several local food pantries and to collect and sort truckloads of clothes for a clothing bank.
In Laredo, one AARP Texas staff person partnered with a local chapter on their nursing home visitations and made a Medicare presentation to more than 450 individuals in Spanish.
Even outside the state, Texas staff were busy at work! In California, the AARP Texas State Director assisted with building a Ka-Boom! playground.
And that was just the staff.
Across the state, over 650 volunteers and chapter members involved themselves in over 50 different activities, including:
- Explaining voter rights and absentee ballot by mail at local assisted living facilities
- Visiting home-bound individuals
- Volunteering at local hospitals
- Assisting with an elementary school immunization program
- Providing entertainment at local nursing homes
- Planting oak trees in remembrance of September 11
- Delivering Meals on Wheels
- Delivering care packages and making lunch for local firemen and police
- Working with local hospice organizations
- Volunteering at Red Cross
- Working with a local animal control facility
To find out more about the Day of Service in Texas, please contact Michael Warburton at (512) 480-2414 or via email.
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