AARP 2008 Annual Report Download - page 2

Letter from the President – Jennie Chin Hansen
With the memorable celebration of AARP’s 50th anniversary in 2008, I believe our past successes, built on
a solid foundation of founding values, continue to be the core upon which we are now poised to build bold
new legacies for all generations of Americans.
And I am proud, particularly in these challenging times, that AARP’s foundation of values solidly
embraces both the personal and the social responsibilities I believe must accompany political and economic
freedom—personal responsibility for our own health and financial security—and social responsibility for
the health and financial security of our fellow citizens.
AARP’s accomplishments in 2008 will be described in detail in this report. But I would like to note here a
few examples to illustrate what I mean. AARP’s primary concern has been—and will always be— our
members. In 2008, we welcomed our 40 millionth member. Throughout the year, we helped our members
improve their lives and navigate the turbulent economy with trustworthy information, advocacy, quality
products and services, and opportunities for fun and fellowship.
We co-sponsored ServiceNation, a national nonpartisan summit that united hundreds of leaders and
national organizations in establishing a national blueprint for citizen service. And we launched Create The
Good, our new volunteer engagement network designed to involve people of all ages in civic life. It began
with Operation Energy Save, which provided simple ways for people to help their neighbors save money
and energy.
Through Divided We Fail, the biggest initiative in AARP history, we were able to engage our members and
volunteers—and the general public—to an extent we had never seen. Our goal was to make sure health and
financial security rose to the top of the national agenda. The results were unprecedented.
All the major presidential candidates and no fewer than 372 members of Congress put themselves on record
as willing to work in a bipartisan way on these issues. Our business and labor alliances were strengthened
considerably. And we substantially increased the pillar of AARP’s power—our base of volunteers—
especially in diverse communities.
Yes, in 2008 AARP marched forward together, making progress toward our goals, meeting the needs of our
members and pushing our nation in the right direction. As we all know, the needs are now greater than ever
in health and financial security for all, but especially for those age 50+. We are well positioned for 2009, as
we incorporate the transition of leadership both in our country and our organization, to lead the charge for