Community Service Programs Growing Rapidly In Nevada
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2003-09-25 11:00:59
The Power to Make it Better shines in Nevada through National Community Service programs and individual volunteerism. Every day volunteers touch the heart of their community in many ways, large and small. Currently in Nevada we have three National Community Service Programs in operation: AARP Driver Safety, AARP Tax-Aide and the AARP Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). These programs help thousands of people nationally and locally each year.
AARP Tax-Aide is a free tax counseling and preparation service for tax payers of middle to low income, with special attention to those 60 and over. Volunteer Tax-Aide Counselors are trained and IRS certified to provide assistance with federal and state income tax. In Nevada, AARP Tax-Aide concluded its season with record numbers in 2003: 185 Tax-Aide counselors assisted more than 16,000 people Nevada with their tax returns.
AARP Driver Safety is an eight-hour classroom refresher course designed especially for drivers 50 and older. In Nevada last year, nearly 7,500 people attended one of the 385 classes presented.
AARP Nevada is looking for bi-lingual Spanish speaking people to work as volunteers for these programs. If you would like more information please contact Maria Dent at mdent@aarp.org.
Also in Nevada, AARP SCSEP offers program participants temporary work training assignments, through an arrangement with a variety of community service organizations. These organizations act as host agencies and provide a supportive and safe work-training environment for seniors who then help expand key services in their community.
AARP Nevada is collaborating with the AARP SCSEP site in Las Vegas to recruit volunteers with professional skills to provide SCSEP staff with support for tasks and activities essential to the success of the program.
Along with national community service programs, volunteers in Nevada stay active in a variety of ways from working at our Information Center, to participating in advocacy activities, to working with our member outreach team manning exhibits at expos and fairs.
Each year, AARP Nevada awards one outstanding volunteer the Andrus Award for Community Service. This award is giving to a volunteer who is nominated from the community and then chosen by a five member selection committee. This year's winner is long time volunteer Joe Shepp.
State President Marlene Rengert, the dedicated members of Nevada's Executive Council - Oscar Sharpe (Advocacy), Dr. William Hausman (Community Service), and Richard Doyle (Communications) - and Maria Dent, AARP Nevada Associate State Director of Community Service, head AARP Nevada's community service effort. For more information on how you can become involved, contact Maria Dent at mdent@aarp.org or call (702) 938-3238.
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