BY CLIFF SMELLEY
If you have a love for helping people and can spare (as of now) at least four hours one day a week during tax season, the AARP Foundation has volunteer opportunities through its Tax-Aide program in Bradford County.
Tax-Aide and its volunteer counselors provide free tax preparation and filing for low- to moderate-income elderly.
Training, which is free of charge, takes place this month and in early December, with volunteers becoming certified by the IRS.
“We want people to be certified by early January,” volunteer Arvid Nelson said.
Those interested should visit aarp.org/aarp-foundation/get-involved/tax-aide or call Nelson at 904-385-8216.
As of now, tax help would be provided one day a week in Starke at the Bradford County Public Library, though volunteer Jeri Benson said, “The more (volunteers) we have, the more we can open up on more days.”
Volunteer counselors don’t need to have prior tax-preparation knowledge. Benson said some volunteers are people who’ve done their own taxes and are interested in doing so for others, while others are from career fields that have nothing to do with preparing taxes, such as nursing.
All that’s required is a heart for helping others. That’s why Benson is a volunteer.
“I like to be involved because it makes you feel good to help someone who comes in petrified, not knowing the process, not knowing how to deal with computers and afraid of the tax people, in general,” Benson said. “You can leave them smiling with a copy of their taxes in hand. They know they can check that off their list for the year.”
Nelson said he once helped a woman whose husband passed away. She told him, “My husband used to take care of this. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
After Nelson helped her prepare her taxes, she told him, “You’re so helpful. Can I cry on your shoulder?”
“This tugs on my heart,” Nelson said. “When people say thank you, when people refer some of their friends to us — that’s telling me that we are providing them a very good service.”
People wanting to volunteer can participate in one of three types of training: self-study (with a book provided to them), in-person or virtual.
Nelson stressed that counselors don’t have to memorize anything. They have resources via a laptop computer at their disposal that they refer to during training and while offering tax help to others.
“We don’t have to remember anything,” Nelson said before joking, “They even give me a name badge to put on so I know my name.”
If volunteers need additional help, they can rely on fellow, experienced counselors.
“We work as a team,” Benson said, adding, “It’s a way of mentoring and nurturing new people so they don’t fell just dropped in.”
Counselors in Bradford County would be committing to working four hours one day a week, though Nelson said they should plan for up to an additional two hours that would include setting up and breaking down before and after appointments.
Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest free tax-assistance service. It consists of approximately 28,000 volunteers.
The service assisted 1.7 million taxpayers last year.
