 |
3 GREAT REASONS
|
1. Getting Involved
- AARP chapter members use their expenence, expertise, talent and creativity to make their local
- communities better places to live. Recent chapter projects across the country include: Five chapters in the Erie (PA) area conducted a flu/pneumonia immunization campaign that reached more than 8,000 older persons.
- Marion (VA) Chapter 1851 joined the BoyScouts of America and the U.S. Forest Service to plant Virginia Round Leaf Birch trees, previously thought to be extinct.
- Maspeth (NY) Chapter 2701 helps unwed and needy mothers learn skills needed to support themselves.
- Chicago (IL) Korean Community Chapter 4672 helps older Koreans learn English and adopted a health clinic in the community.
As a chapter member, your future will be full of opportunities to get involved. AARP focuses its volunteer programs to better meet local needs, and traditional chapter structure is changing to meet the interests of new members.
Volunteer AARP Community Councils and chapter members develop community service projects to get results close to home.
ARRP Connections for Independent Living will connect members with local volunteer programs that help older people continue iving in their own homes.
Chapter membership is a valuable way to apply your experience and expertise to local problems, to reach out to your community, and to have a lot of fun doing it.
2. Making New Friends
Joining a chapter is not all service. How could it be, when people with many of the same tastes and interests,many of the same memories, gather on a regular basis? Chapter members meet to discuss common concerns, share information and enjoy each other's company.You will hear speakers on important sub jects such as health care reform, financial security, safety and crime prevention.
You'll enjoy sporting events, picnics, craft and hobby fairs, and travel to exciting and stimulating destinations, all while taking advantage of group accommodations and savings available through AARP.
3. Making a Difference
The third great reason for you to join an AARP chapter may be the most important. AARP chapters are in the mainstream of vital national issues affecting the lives of all older Americans today. You will regularly receive state legislative alerts and can help influence policy decisions that will be felt for generations to come.National health care reform is a prime example. AARP members nationwide have repeatedly expressed the need to include prescription chig coverage and long-term care in national health care reform.
Through letters and phone calls, AARP chapters are keeping these priorities in front of the President and Congress.
Health care reform forums have been conducted nationwide with the help of chapter members and other AARP volunteers.
Ensuring health care reform that fairly and adequately addresses the needs of all Americans is AARP's first priority. As a chapter member, you can provide vital assistance toward that goal.
What is an AARP Chapter?
An AARP chapter is a group of 20 or more national AARP members who formally organize through the Association. Chapters are nongovernnent, nonpartisan, nonprofit community service organzations open to all local AARP members.
AARP chapters promote independence, dignity and accomplishment for older Americans at the community level. Chapter members look at important needs and opportunities in their local areas and find ways to help. The Association provides resources to strengthen chapter activities.
Each AARP chapter is a vital communi cations link beween local members and AARP national headquarters in Washington, DC.
Chapters exemplity AARP's motto: "To Serve, Not To Be Served." Through service activities, chapter members personify AARP in the local community.
Call today for information about an AARP chapter near you: 1-800-434-3210
(In Titusville: 267-6190)
"Our community is the place where we, as older individuals, can be most effective..."
Dr Ethel Percy Andrus
Founder of AARP
When the idea of creating local AARP chapters was first raised in the early 1960s, Dr. Andrus resisted. She feared that chapters would become little more than social clubs where older people would be encouraged to while away the hours over checkers, coffee and donuts.
Instead, she wanted chapters to have meaningful programs of education, service and involvement, to be places where individual members could play a vital role in improving the quality of life in their communities.
So began the tradition of community service by AARP chapters. And while chapters have changed in many ways over the past three decades, the tradition continues...