Youngstown AARP Chapter recognized for 25th anniversary

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Both both current and founding members of the local chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons are celebrating the group’s 25th anniversary.

In a letter sent to the group in March, AARP’s national president Jeannine English and chief executive officer Jo Anne Jenkins expressed gratitude for the chapter’s leaders and members’ efforts.

The Youngstown chapter was commended for its information and education programs, legislative advocacy efforts and community efforts and service activities.

Joseph Hightower, chapter president, said the award reflects the vision of the group’s founding members.

“The AARP is not really a group that seeks publicity,” he said. “Our motto is to serve, not to be served.”

AARP lobbies on behalf of senior-citizen concerns, including Medicare and Social Security, and boasts more than 37 million members across the country. The organization started in 1958 when it evolved from the National Retired Teachers Association, which was founded in 1947 for retired teachers in need of health insurance.

The Youngstown chapter started unofficially at the McGuffey Centre on Jacobs Road on the city’s East Side in the 1980s, according to founding members, but didn’t become an official chapter until 1991.

“This has been really nice, to at last have some recognition [for what] we’ve done for the past 25 years,” said Joyce Powell, current assistant treasurer and a chapter founding member. “We never expected to have any recognition. We just keep on working and trying to increase the knowledge for the seniors, for their benefits.”

Currently, the Youngstown East chapter of AARP has about 60 to 70 members, as compared with the 10 to 20 members in 1991. Hightower said the organization also works with charities and other community organizations for local events and fundraisers.

“I’m very proud of my people,” Hightower said.