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As a senior (73) I was very unpleasantly surprised when I called our Senior Center recently (for the purpose of help with tax return forms) and was told that they are booked solid and are not accepting any more appointments. Now, where does one go for assistance with the filing now that MY Senior Center offers no help? The Westfield News reached out to the Westfield Senior Center and learned they (along with most of the surrounding Centers that they know of) are booked solid with appointments. The tax service the Westfield Senior Center offers is free because it is entirely run by trained volunteers through AARP. There are a limited number of volunteers and with the increase in the number of older adults in all of the local communities, demand outweighs supply. In addition, in Westfield two tax days this year were lost because of inclement weather and the Senior Center was closed. The Westfield Senior Center has expanded their tax service from two mornings a week in past years to two full days a week and would expand the number of days if AARP could supply the volunteers. Unfortunately, they cannot. The same volunteers who work in Westfield on Mondays and Thursdays work in the surrounding communities on the other days of the week. On a positive note, there is a trend in baby boomers retiring and looking for meaningful volunteer work. So, if anyon would like to go through the AARP tax assistance training next year they can contact the Senior Center and they will see that the Program Coordinators are notified.
