Tom Lacock was our Consider a Rotarian last week. He gave us some insight into AARP in Wyoming.
AARP was established by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, who was a teacher and the first female school principal in California, earning her Masters and Doctorate degrees from USC in 1928 and 1930. The EPA Gerontology Center at USC, now bears her name.
She would retire from education early to become a caregiver to her mother. During that time, she was appointed to the California Retired Teachers Association's committee on retired teachers welfare. She received a call from a shopkeeper near LA who asked if Andrus could check on a woman who needed help. She found a retired Spanish teacher living in a chicken coop on a $40 a month pension. She recognized retired teachers were living in these conditions and had no health insurance. So, she established the National Retired Teachers Association in 1947 [NRTA] and realized the need for affordable insurance and advocacy went beyond teachers, so she founded AARP in 1958.
AARP is a non-profit organization, 501(c)(4). A main focus of AARP is to lobby for those over 50. AARP does not back any particular political party or candidates. They do license their name to other products and services such as United Health Care, travel and recreation companies, etc., through negotiated agreements. All profits from these agreements go towards funding basic AARP activities.
AARP is a member organization for persons 50 years or older. Membership is $16 per year including spouse or partner at no additional cost. There are over 38 million members in the organization including 83,000 in Wyoming. 50% of all members are between the ages of 50 to 65.
AARP lobbies the government at the state and national levels on health care, Social Security and Medicare. They educate members and non-members about the issues that affect older adults and family members while stressing local community involvement and volunteerism. AARP is all about getting people involved with volunteering in their communities.
The AARP Wyoming State Director is Sam Shumway.
AARP has identified chapters don’t work as well as community groups because of the changing interests of communities. Wyoming's state office is a small cohesive office of 6 members coordinating volunteers for different functions.
As I mentioned I am the president of the Metro Council and you are welcome to join in our Council meeting every other month on the 4th Friday at 9:30 am to exchange ideas about how to make your community a great place to live.
