AARP Foundation

Jeff Gordon’s Motto: Never Give Up

Posted on 09/9/2012 by Jen Martin | Volunteering | Comments

Volunteering | Your LifeBy all accounts, four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jeff Gordon drove the best race of his life last night at Richmond International Speedway, cinching one of the two coveted Wild Card spot in the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup. “I went from last week to being the most disappointed I’ve ever been to finish second to the most excited I’ve ever been to finish second,” said Gordon to the press. While Gordon led the lead lap at the start of …

Who’s Hungry? Many Have Trouble Affording Food

Posted on 08/30/2012 by Jen Martin | Volunteering | Comments

Money & Savings | News Roundups | Your LifeThis is a guest post by Becky Squires. Becky is a writer-editor for AARP Foundation. The United States might be the land of plenty, but many people cannot afford to buy what’s on offer – including food. A new Gallup survey conducted from January to June 2012 found one in four Mississippians (24.9%) said they could not afford to buy food for themselves or their families at least once over the past year. Alabama (22.9%) and Delaware (22.1%) ranked second …

Celebrating Everyday Heroes in Denver

Posted on 08/16/2012 by Jen Martin | Volunteering | Comments

VolunteeringEvery week, volunteer Joe Pells goes to the AARP Foundation Colorado Consumer Fraud Prevention Call Center in Denver and makes about 90 phone calls to warn seniors about financial scams. He’s done this for three years, spoken to nearly 5,000 people and performed more than 500 hours of service. He’s an amazing super-volunteer. Denver’s ABC7 TV station recognized Pells’s dedication, naming him a “7Everyday Hero” earlier this month. The station gives the weekly award to Coloradans who initiate solutions, motivate …

Caregiving, When Everything Hurts

Posted on 08/16/2012 by Laura Hahn | Volunteering | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsA week ago, I visited my Pop Pop for his 96th birthday. I brought a big sign with me, with dozens of messages from people all over the country — family in Indiana, friends in Mississippi, Twitter followers from Boston and D.C. and Kansas. Even Arthur, who I introduced in my first post here, got in on the surprise. “How ya doin, pal?” he wrote. I figured my grandfather, the best keeper-in-toucher I know, would get a kick out of …

Keeping a Housing Promise to Seniors in Virginia

Posted on 08/10/2012 by Jen Martin | Volunteering | Comments

Home & FamilyThis is a guest post by Chrissy Fehskens. Chrissy is a Communications Advisor at the AARP Foundation. Last month, a promise made to longtime residents of Charlottesville Virginia’s former Sunrise Trailer Court was fulfilled. In 2004, private developers looked to purchase land where a 16-unit trailer park stood, jeopardizing the homes of longtime residents, many of them age 50 and older. Instead, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville ended up purchasing the land, and they promised the nine families, who …

Isolation Hinders Recovery Process and Raises Stress Levels, Says Dr. Oz

Posted on 08/2/2012 by Deb Silverberg | AARP Blog Author | Comments

Personal Health | VolunteeringBy Becky Squires, a writer-editor for AARP Foundation || In an interview with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, medical expert Dr. Mehmet Oz said he now insists that all the patients he operates on bring someone who loves them with them to the hospital. “If you don’t have a reason for your heart to keep beating, it won’t,” the well-known heart surgeon explained, adding that there is a lot of evidence that being isolated breeds illness in our modern world. “When …