How to Become an AARP Senior Advocate

Getting involved in society as an AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) senior advocate can be rewarding, not only for yourself, but many other senior citizens needing a voice outside Washington or your state capital. AARP is a force of 35 million and membership continues to grow. If you become an AARP senior advocate, you'll receive regular updates, action alerts and instructions about how to help make the world a better place for seniors.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Sign up as a member of AARP through their website (see Resources below). Then, use the "Become an Advocate" link on the site to join the advocacy crew. They'll ask your name, address, phone number and email address. You'll get to choose in which area(s) you'd like to provide advocacy assistance, including economic, health care, elections, housing and transportation, general or all.
2. Review the page that comes up after you sign up. It's the "Advocacy Center" page where there will be a "Take Action" section, which will deal with a current issue related to your area(s) of interest and a link to more information, including how your lawmakers voted on the issue(s) and even a link where you can send a message to those lawmakers.
3. Browse the "State Alerts" section of the Advocacy Center page which will highlight any current issues in your home state, perhaps even your home town. If there are no issues pending at any given time, you can click another link to go to the AARP page of your home state which you can review for more information about all kinds of issues.
4. Check out other links on the Advocacy Center page, including records of any alerts in which you have participated and a handy list of all your lawmakers and their contact information, including email address links.
5. Read the welcome email you'll receive from AARP for information about AARP's Activist Network and your role within it. As alerts arise, you'll be asked to assist with advocacy efforts, but always only to the degree you wish to be involved.