By Mark Harvey
You know what today is, right?
Well, yes, it is Oct. 6, and it is the 279th day of 2018 (which means it’s probably time to dump last December’s fruitcake), and … yes, Daylight Saving Time begins tomorrow in Australia.
But today is way more special than that. Today is the day that some of you will hear opportunity knocking, because today is the day that I hit on you to become a Tax-Aide volunteer!
“Oh, right,” you’re thinking, “I’d rather be resetting all of my Australian clocks!”
Wait a minute.
Tax-Aides are the good guys, remember? These are the folks who help low- and middle-income and elder members of our community figure out and electronically file their income taxes — for nothing! And they do it in the Aberdeen, Ocean Shores, McCleary, Raymond and Ocean Park areas.
These are the folks who boldly go where almost none of us have gone before: They knowingly sign up to learn enough about taxes that they can actually pass an IRS-mandated annual test to prove it — and they do a lot of that studying during the holidays!
(I know — I’m impressed, too.)
And, yes, you do remember correctly: This is actually AARP Tax-Aide, but you don’t have to belong to AARP to volunteer or to get their free tax prep assistance, because this is the AARP Foundation, so take that for what it’s worth to you.
And, no, you don’t have to be retired to do this; you just have to care. The Tax-Aide coordinators are geniuses at juggling schedules.
If you’re like me, you try to imagine who would volunteer to prepare income tax returns. The picture you probably see is a bunch of nerds with bottle-bottom, horn-rimmed glasses who think rocket science isn’t rocket science — and, yes, there are a few of those. There are also folks from just about every walk of life you care to imagine, who just decided to become part of the solution — to give back. And many of them do it year after year after year. Why? Because it changes lives for the better.
Now, don’t get me wrong: Becoming a Tax-Aide volunteer is a lot of work: self-study and classes and more self-study and more classes, then the dreaded IRS test, and then you have to actually go do the work during tax season — for nothing. Folks are asked to volunteer at least four days per week during the season, but most do quite a bit more.
If you have trouble getting 4 out of 2+2, or never learned how to turn on a computer because your abacus wasn’t broken, this may not be your gig — no harm, no foul. But if you have a reasonable facility with numbers and you like people, this could be right up your proverbial alley.
What do you do? Well, the best place to start would be to go to www.aarp.org/taxaide to fill out an online application (and no, your abacus can’t do that — I tried). Soon after, you’ll be contacted by the local coordinator to launch your personal foray through the IRS looking glass.
Burning questions? Well, you could contact the local coordinator I mentioned. That person happens to be Randy Walls, and you can reach him at rgwalls@msn.com.
One longtime volunteer continues to volunteer for Tax-Aide because “it’s good for the soul.” Now, who among us couldn’t use a bit of positive karma?
Just do it. Don’t overthink it or imagine all kinds of insurmountable obstacles — just do it. And soon! It’s already the 279th day of the year and time’s a-wastin’! (Especially if you live in Australia, where it’s already tomorrow.)
Mark Harvey is the director of information and assistance for the Olympic Area Agency on Aging. He can be reached by email at harvemb@dshs.wa.gov; by phone at 360-532-0520 in Aberdeen, 360-942-2177 in Raymond, or 360-642-3634; or through Facebook at Olympic Area Agency on Aging-Information & Assistance.
