Tax aid volunteer offers free income tax filing - aarp foundation

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide volunteer Donna Ortega (right) helps a Washington, D.C., program participant file his taxes free of charge. Jim Vecchione My sister calls me a “frustrated

accountant” because, although I’m not technically an accountant like she is, I’ve always loved math and have always wanted to help people manage their finances better. I found an opportunity

online to train for a local tax assistance program in the District of Columbia, and in the 2003 tax season I started volunteering with them. I loved the other volunteers I met — they were

so friendly and committed and happy to be helping others. My first volunteer site was in Chinatown in DC, and there were wonderful ladies from the Chinese church who helped as interpreters

and kept things running smoothly. It could be chaotic, with people pushing to get to the front of the line, and the church ladies would just start talking and everyone would calm down and

all of a sudden there’d be order. It was amazing. After moving to a position at AARP Foundation, I wanted to start volunteering for our own Tax-Aide program. In order to be a Tax-Aide

volunteer, you need to be certified at a higher level in order to do more complex tax returns, which I found a bit intimidating. But my AARP Foundation colleagues in the program wouldn’t let

me back out after they learned I’d been a volunteer with another organization for so many years. They really provided support and encouragement — and a little bit of good-hearted guilt —

and soon I was certified. What a pleasure it was to find that the Tax-Aide volunteers I met were just as lovely as the ones I’d worked with before. MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY More

than 27,000 volunteers fuel our mission. Find an AARP Foundation volunteer opportunity near you and be the difference. Volunteer Today I’ve worked with some great Tax-Aide clients over the

years. One who stands out is a young mom I met my first year and kept running into even though I was volunteering at different sites. Just about every year she had something different going

on. I’d give her the information she needed, and I could always be sure that the next year she’d come back fully prepared on that issue — and ready with something new for us to tackle

together. My favorite thing about her is that she always _listens._ I keep thinking about the fact that much of the information I give her just wouldn’t be available to someone like her, and

how much of a difference the few hundred dollars it saves her can make in her life. It’s the kind of information that people with more resources probably take for granted or get as a matter

of course from their accountant or other paid financial adviser. Through AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, though, this low-income, struggling, single mom is able to get the same valuable advice

and guidance — for free. But it’s about so much more than that. We really have a connection. When I see her at the tax site now, we joke about her daughter “the deduction.”