DENVER, Colo. – Two volunteers from Great Bend who serve at the state and national level for the AARP Foundation’s Tax-Aide Program made a presentation to a host of other state-level volunteers from across the country during the Foundation’s national meeting last week in Denver. Their topic was media relations and advertising.
“There are several new opportunities available this year for state and local coordinators to recruit volunteers and promote their services,” said Linn Hogg, Kansas prospective volunteer specialist and National Recruitment and Outreach Committee chairperson. She is also the director of Volunteers in Action of Central Kansas.
“Tax-Aide focuses on serving older adults with low to moderate income and helps them secure much-deserved tax refunds,” Linn said. She oversees the site in Great Bend.
“A lot of the folks in the room serve in state and local leadership roles, but media relations and advertising are foreign topics for them,” said Dale Hogg, Kansas partnership communications specialist and NROC member. He is also the public relations director for Fuller Industries Inc.
“It was indeed a privilege sharing my public relations experience and my four decades of journalism, and my wife’s years of experience working with nonprofits and volunteers,” Dale said. “This is a worthwhile and valuable program.”
The theme of the Wednesday through Friday conference at the Denver Airport Westin was the “transformative” nature of volunteerism, said Mioshi Moses, vice president of volunteer programs for the Foundation. Volunteers transform the lives of those they help, and in return, the experience transforms the live of the volunteer.
“It’s a two-way street,” Moses said. “That’s the goal of this week’s meeting – bringing people together.”
The gathering included several presentations, program updates, panel discussions and break-out sessions. There were also networking opportunities as the state leaders prepared for their individual state meetings in the coming weeks.
The Hoggs will also present at the Kansas State meeting in November at Emporia.
Efforts now are focused on finding volunteers for the upcoming tax filing season. Help is needed to prepare taxes, as well as helping manage and promote the tax prep sites across the country.
For the 2024 tax season, 27,771 volunteers at 36,00 sites nationwide helped 1680,084 taxpayers receive $1,280,817,176 in refunds. Closer to home, overall, Kansas sites did more than 11,000 returns.
Locally, eight volunteers helped 268 taxpayer from Barton, Pawnee, Rice and Stafford counties.
Dating back to 1968, Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest free, volunteer-based tax assistance and preparation program.
To volunteer, visit kstaxaide.com.
About AARP Foundation Tax-Aide Program
Kansas residents can get their taxes done for free beginning in early February and continuing through mid-April. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, the nation’s largest free tax preparation assistance service, has low-contact, contact-free, and in-person options for providing taxpayer assistance. These options vary by location and are subject to change.
AARP membership is not required. Visit aarpfoundation.org/taxaide for details.
