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AARP Volunteer Reflects on a Life of Service
AARP
September 21 marks the birthday of Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus. Andrus revolutionized the way America viewed aging through her founding of AARP. “Such to me is the new image of aging,” she said. “Growth in self, and service for all mankind.”
Today, more than 1,000 people volunteer for AARP Tennessee, honoring Andrus’ vision of service. The work AARP does across the state depends on these volunteers.
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Among this group is Don Lindsey, who serves in the East Tennessee region. Lindsey has been with AARP since 2019. However, his track record of volunteering goes back decades before this.
Lindsey began working with the American Automobile Association (AAA) in 1977. He started volunteering that same year. The correlation is not a coincidence. AAA connected Lindsey with organizations that worked towards improved traffic safety.
Among these organizations were the Optimus Club, the Annual Fall Prevention Event and the Metro Drug Coalition. His relationships with these organizations started as professional. Eventually, it became one of service.
“[Volunteering] caught me,” said Lindsey. “I started just being a bigger part of that, whether I actually needed to for the company or not.”
Lindsey’s work expanded to teaching teens driver safety and helping parents check the safety of their child restraint car seats. He also assists with AARP’s CarFit program. For Lindsey, volunteering became an opportunity to be part of the solution to a growing problem.
“The passion for traffic safety developed early on,” he said. “I was noticing how much we risk just getting around, and how little recognized that risk is. How much we take for granted that we’re going to get where we’re supposed to be unharmed.”
Volunteering also allowed Lindsey to help change the public perception of driver safety.
“I think the attitude [was] that it was just something we deal with, and [it] was not truly recognized for the issue that it was,” said Lindsey.
While Lindsey’s work at AAA allowed him to work professionally in traffic safety, volunteering gave him a glimpse of the impact this work had on his community.
“When I could see results, where I could see people actually getting better, I could see people learning things, I could see people connecting to sources of help for them,” said Lindsey, “all of that just gave me the feeling I need to be involved.”
Moments like these are at the heart of Lindsey’s volunteer work.
“I have been able to find a whole bunch of really special people,” said Lindsey. “To be able to be with them, associate with them, to help with them, whatever I can, that’s been pretty darn amazing.”
The impact of volunteering extended beyond those Lindsey helped. It also touched him.
“What’s tough to get across is… how really good you feel when you volunteer,” said Lindsey.
Lindsey’s work has been recognized across the region. In May, he received the Volunteer Award at the annual John J. Duncan Sr. Awards for Senior Advocacy. The award honored his decades of dedication to his community through volunteerism.
Among those who supported Lindsey at the event was Loria Hubbard, community outreach director for AARP’s Tennessee East Region. Loria has worked alongside Lindsey for the last four years.
“Don has done so much incredible community service work,” said Hubbard. “We really are lucky to call him an AARP volunteer. Serving others is a core part of AARP’s mission, and Don truly embodies that in everything he does.”
Tennessee State Senator Becky Massey and former U.S. Representative John Duncan Jr. presented Lindsey with the award. When Lindsey came onto the stage, however, he directed the attention to others.
“It is humbling,” said Lindsey of receiving the award. “It does make a difference to have people see you and see how you’ve done.”
While Lindsey says he is “massively grateful” for the recognition, his life of service was never about the accolades.
“Leave this life having done something to make things better,” he said. “That’s one of the main things I wanted to do, really, throughout my time.”
Volunteers like Lindsey embody the spirit of Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, whose mission was “to serve, not to be served.”
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