AARP Foundation: Leading the Way in 2025

There’s so much we’re proud of in 2025 — narrowing down the list of accomplishments to 10 wasn’t easy! We picked these to highlight the different ways we worked for and with older adults from day one.

1. When wildfires broke out across the Los Angeles area in January, AARP Foundation and its donors provided support to the hardest-hit communities and families through $1.5 million in emergency grants to local organizations.
2. Over 1.7 million people had their taxes prepared by AARP Foundation Tax-Aide and got more than $1.3 billion in refunds.
3. Happy 30th anniversary, AARP Foundation Experience Corps! Launched in 1995, the program has changed thousands of lives by pairing elementary school students with older adults  to improve the kids’ reading skills before the end of third grade — and bring a renewed sense of purpose to their volunteer tutors.
4. $100 million earned through new job opportunities. $100 million earned. BACK TO WORK 50+ participants reached a big milestone of $100 million in income in the last five years alone, showing that it is never too late to find meaningful work and financial stability.
5. More than 29,000 people volunteered with AARP Foundation this year through our Tax-Aide and Experience Corps programs.
6. In partnership with SHRM Foundation, we created an empowering "MythBusters" resource that champions age-inclusive hiring to help workers thrive in the workplace.
7. Our donors support everything we do, including stepping up to help us provide $2 million in critical funding to hunger relief organizations and food banks across the country in the wake of a lapse in SNAP funding.
8. AARP Foundation’s Senior Vice President for Litigation William Alvarado Rivera provided expert testimony to the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor & Pensions to help ensure that older workers can protect their retirement benefits through representation in the courts.
9. AARP Foundation and co-counsels succeeded in two major pension cases totaling $114 million in judicial decisions and settlements after thousands of workers had been left without basic retirement protections. The cases included $60 million for African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church clergy and workers, and a $54.2 million verdict for 1,124 St. Clare's Hospital employees. 
10. AARP Foundation's great work garnered attention in the news throughout the year. National media reporting on AARP Foundation programs and services included:

•  Your guide to family caregiving, from people who've been there: NPR (AARP Foundation Paid4Care[tm])
• They’re 100 Years Old — And Still Doing People’s Taxes: The Wall Street Journal  (AARP Foundation Tax-Aide)
• Church Retirement Plans Sidestep Federal Oversight — and Employees Pay the Price: The Wall Street Journal (AARP Foundation Litigation)