AARP IN
ACTION
TAKE FIVE TO HELP OTHERS
We’re all busy during the holidays,
but the season reminds us how
important it is to give back. AARP’s
Create the Good website helps you
find volunteer opportunities in your
community that take as little as five
minutes ( createthegood.org/mag).
ASK LEE
LATEST MODEL IN DRIVER SAFE TY
AARP’s Driver Safety Program is
updating its curriculum with the
latest approaches to driver education,
thanks to a $12.6 million grant
from Toyota to AARP Foundation
( aarp.org/drive).
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT
INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNI TED STATES (D.C.) AND PUERTO
RICO 18 YEARS AND OLDER. VOID WHERE PROHIBI TED.
Promotion ends 12/31/11. The winner will receive one
( 1) $50,000 check (the “Prize”). For official rules, prize
descriptions, and odds disclosure, visit www.aarp.org/
retirementsweeps/. Sponsor: AARP, 601 E Street NW,
Washington, D.C. 20049.
Whatever
retirement
means to you—
reinventing your
career, traveling, relocating, or just
kicking back—AARP wants to help
you make the most of it. Enter
online through December 31 for
a chance to win $50,000 toward
your retirement dreams ( aarp.org/
retirementsweeps). Prize courtesy
of AARP.
$50,000
Q: What does it mean to call
Social Security and Medicare
“entitlement” programs?
A: The truth is, Social Security and
Medicare should be called “earned
benefits,” not “entitlement” programs.
You don’t get these benefits as a birthright. They are based on a lifetime of
payroll contributions from your work
(as well as, for Medicare, your ongoing
premium payments). The word
“entitlement” makes these benefits
sound like something you didn’t earn
and don’t deserve. Maybe that’s why
lawmakers who demand cuts in Social
Security and Medicare use the term
so often. We must never let our leaders
forget the beneficial impact these
programs have had on the quality of
life for older Americans and for people
with disabilities. They have reduced
poverty, enabled better health, and
played a vital role in protecting the
health and economic security not only
ofthe most vulnerable but also of
America’s middle class.
tutoring program in the country for
young children. And it works! Students
who have Experience Corps tutors
achieve more than 60 percent gains
in two critical literacy skills—sounding
out new words and reading comprehension—compared with their peers.
To learn more about participating in
the program, call 1-888-687-2277, go
to aarp.org/experiencecorps, or e-mail
experiencecorps@aarp.org.
MICHAEL LE WIS
PRESIDEN T W. Lee Hammond
PRESIDEN T-ELEC T Robert Romasco
BOARD CHAIR Phil Zarlengo
BOARD VICE-CHAIR Gail E. Aldrich
SECRE TARY/ TREASURER A. James Forbes Jr.
CLASS OF 2012 Leobardo Estrada,
William J. Hall, Mara Mayor, Maeona
Mendelson, Robert Romasco, George
Ro wan, Phil Zarlengo
CLASS OF 2014 Gail E. Aldrich, Allen
Douma, A. James Forbes Jr., Hubert H.
Humphrey III, Jacob Lozada, J. David
Nelson, Charles E. Reed
CLASS OF 2016 Jeannine English,
Catherine Georges, Barbara O’Connor,
John Penn, Diane Pratt, Carol Raphael,
Fernando Torres-Gil
AARP Board
Q: Kids who need tutors, retired
teachers who want to volunteer: Any AARP connections?
A: I’m a retired teacher myself, so I’m
especially proud that AARP has just
joined forces with Experience Corps,
a national leader in engaging older
adult tutors to improve literacy for
students in kindergarten through third
grade. Experience Corps currently
serves 20,000 students in disadvantaged schools. The AARP–Experience
Corps team is on the path to reaching
50,000 to 100,000 students in five
years, thereby becoming the largest
Q: I see that Sprint Cup driver
Jeff Gordon’s car is sporting an
AARP logo. Please remind me
why AARP money is going to
NASCAR?
A: AARP and AARP Foundation
(AARP’s affiliated charity) teamed up
with four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series champion Jeff Gordon and
Hendrick Motorsports about a year
ago in NASCAR’s first-ever cause-based sponsorship. Drive to End
Hunger (DTEH) is a three-year initiative to address the problem of hunger
among older Americans, which affects
nearly 9 million people 50 or older.
DTEH is getting the NASCAR fan base,
corporations, and charitable organizations involved to help raise awareness
and funds. It’s also focusing on developing long-term solutions to senior
hunger through collaboration, innovative grants at the community level, and
research. So far this year DTEH has
raised more than $12 million to combat
senior hunger and donated more than
3. 6 million meals through local hunger-relief organizations (855-383-4669;
drivetoendhunger.org).
—W. Lee Hammond
HAVE A QUESTION
ABOUT AARP?
Write to Ask Lee, AARP, 601 E St. NW, Washington,
DC 20049, or e-mail
AskLee@aarp.org.
