AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, which suspended operations in Delaware County two years ago during the pandemic, is preparing to return this winter and is looking for volunteers to help restart the service. In the past, volunteers have taken appointments at the Delaware County District Library Orange Branch.
This volunteer-run program provides free, no-strings-attached, income tax preparation to anyone but places a special emphasis on serving senior citizens. Prior to 2020, Tax-Aide volunteers prepared tax returns for more than 1,000 residents each year in Delaware County.
The Delaware County District Library is looking forward to the return of this service to our patrons, which is why we’re partnering with AARP Foundation Tax-Aide to help spread the word for volunteers. Volunteers provide a calm and reassuring hand to people and help make sure clients receive every tax benefit to which they are entitled.
If you’d like to donate your time to help make a meaningful and measurable difference in your neighbors’ lives, consider volunteering. Volunteers come from all backgrounds; no experience is required. Training, a computer, and mentorship are provided – and no one works alone!
For more information or to sign up, please visit www.aarpfoundation.org/taxaidevolunteer, call 888-227-7669 or email [email protected].
Does the crispness in the air have you longing for a fall escape to a faraway land? Try one of these books and see the world without leaving the comfort of your couch.
• “Dinner for One: How Cooking in Paris Saved Me” by Sutanya Dacres. New Yorker Sutanya Dacres hit it off with a handsome Frenchman and eventually moved to Paris and married him. The marriage ended after three years, leaving Sutanya adrift and ashamed. At a breaking point, she started cooking simple dishes, such as pasta salad and leek risotto (recipes included), as she rebuilt her life. The mix of memoir and recipes will leave you feeling satisfied both mentally and physically.
• “Downton Shabby: One American’s Ultimate DIY Adventure Restoring His Family’s English Castle” by Hopwood DePree. After two deaths in his family, a 40-something Hollywood actor/producer reexamined his life and researched his ancestors. When he saw an article about a Lord Hopwood, he realized that his grandfather’s tales about a family castle were actually real. With little money, he moved to England to renovate the derelict 600-year-old home, getting help from a colorful cast of locals and neighbors.
• “Ms. Adventure: My Wild Explorations in Science, Lava, and Life” by Jess Phoenix. Jess Phoenix is a geologist, volcanologist, Explorers Club Fellow, and co-founder of a nonprofit that produces research and works with students in hopes of bringing more diversity to scientific fields. Phoenix discusses her winding path to a science career, the barriers she’s faced in a male-dominated field, her eye-opening time shooting a TV segment, and her adventures in California, Hawaii, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and New York City.
• “Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World: Essays” by Barry Lopez. A collection of more than 20 essays, some never before published, broken into sections called Conversations, Thresholds, Sky, and River, and written during the award-winning author’s final decades. Read it for details of his travels, including to Antarctica and Australia; stories about his Oregon home; musings on the natural world; memories from his California childhood, including surviving sexual abuse.
• “Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic” by Michael Smith and Jonathan Franklin. The Zaandam, a Holland America cruise ship carrying 1,200 passengers and 600 crew, left Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 8, 2020, as the COVID-19 virus spread across the world. Soon, the ship had sick and dying people, but no port would allow them to dock. This engrossing account by award-winning reporters depicts what life was like on the ship and includes first-hand accounts of passengers, crew members, family members back home, and more.
