SALISBURY — Advocating for seniors is part of the mission of AARP, a national, nonprofit membership organization, which has a local chapter in Rowan County.

AARP, as noted in a release, helps those who are 50-plus be able to “have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole.”

Rowan County residents 50 and older are invited to join the local AARP chapter, which meets every first Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, 1120 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. S, Salisbury. The group has a covered dish meal prior to the meeting four times a year, in March, June, September and December.

During the Jan. 2 meeting of the Salisbury-Rowan AARP Chapter #4314, new officers for 2025 were installed. They are Lena Sellers, president; Sylvia Fosha, vice president; Mary Miller, secretary; and Doreece Brown, treasurer.

Members serving on the chapter’s board and as committee chairs are as follows: Eileen Hanson-Kelly, calling committee and publicity; Teresa Lowe, friendship and historian; Carolyn Smith, health and wellness; Linda Rouche, legislative action; Rosetta Jackson, social and recreation; and Penny Sides, membership.

In a release, Sellers thanked Jerry Shelby for his many years of service to the organization, serving as chair of the legislative committee for 21 years and as chapter historian for 14 years.

During the monthly meetings, programs are usually provided with speakers sharing information of particular interest to seniors, said Calling Committee and Publicity Chair Eileen Hanson-Kelly.

Last month, she said, they had a representative from Meals on Wheels to attend and speak about their program.

On another occasion, the program centered around the work of Elder Orphan Care, an area group that helps older adults who may be homebound and need help at home or just to visit with, but may have no family in the area.

Other programs have included someone from the Granite Quarry Fire Department who talked about fire safety for seniors and one shared by the Granite Quarry Police Department focusing on scams and frauds that target that age group.

Hanson-Kelly said that in February they, along with Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, would be sponsoring a program by the state AARP, which would be coming to do a program on scams and frauds targeting seniors as well.

In addition to monthly meetings, she said that part of their mission is community service. Therefore, they try to perform four service projects each year where they take information about AARP and other senior related information to area health fairs.

For instance, she said, they would be attending the senior expo at the Cabarrus Arena in March.

The group also plans to be at the Jan. 18 community resource fair at the Salisbury Civic Center following the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade. They will have a table set up to share information with those attending the event.

Hanson-Kelly said they may also share information by attending similar events at churches, provide speakers for other groups wanting programs, and they have gone to one of the lunch programs at the center and talked about AARP.

Additional service projects the chapter has participated in has included collecting items for people served by Rowan Helping Ministries, and they have collected food for other organizations.

Along with the service projects, the group has enjoyed a time of fellowship.

“The other part is to give seniors an opportunity to come out and have some fellowship with other people,” said Hanson-Kelly.

Being a national organization, she said, they also hear about legislation that the AARP is supporting statewide or nationally.

While many think that AARP is only for retired people, Hanson-Kelly said it is not. The only requirement is for members to be 50 or older. She added that many of the seniors who attend the local chapter meetings are retired, but they do have seniors that still work and are able to attend meetings on their lunch hours or they may just work part time and can attend.

Retirement, as far as applying for Social Security, is not one of the focuses of AARP, but they update people on what’s happening and provide information on help that might be available and encourage members to volunteer for programs that might be a concern to seniors, Hanson-Kelly said.

It was through an AARP meeting quite a few years ago that she learned about Meals on Wheels and has been volunteering for them ever since, she said.

Other members also volunteer for this organization, along with Rowan Helping Ministries, their church volunteer programs and the Ambassadors Club, a service group of volunteers that do things for Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, said Hanson-Kelly.

“We encourage our members, if they are able to, to volunteer for other community groups, especially those that might be helping seniors, because of the demographic that we are part of,” she said.

Those interested in learning more about AARP are welcome to visit the chapter meetings, and those wanting to join may do so as well. Dues are $4 a year.

They do encourage all of their chapter members to also belong to the National AARP, she said. However, they must do this individually as the local chapter does not process those national memberships.

The next meeting for the Rowan Chapter will be Feb. 6 with guest speaker Vanessa Miles from Allen Tate Realtors presenting a program on “The Most Common Problems Found in Homes.” Refreshments will follow. 

For more information, contact Rufty-Holmes Senior Center at 704-216-7714.