GAF cel ebrates successful tax season, donation event

GOLDEN AGE FOUNDATION EVENTS

Three trucks were filled with someone’s future treasures from LW residents at the Golden Age Foundation’s (GAF) Salvation Army donation event on April 11 in the Amphitheater parking lot.

GAF volunteers and Salvation Army employees received items for donation from 375 vehicles, equaling 9,375 pounds collected, over the five-hour service.

The Salvation Army workers brought three trucks to the event, two from the Long Beach location, and one truck from the Santa Monica location.

The GAF collected many items from residents to donate, including small furniture, kitchen appliances, luggage, house appliances, men’s suits, shoes, CDs, books, women’s handbags, and other items.

The program, dubbed “Salvation Saturdays,” brings Salvation Army donation trucks into Leisure World every other month, providing a convenient and cost-effective way for residents to rid themselves of unwanted items.

In addition to giving residents a convenient venue to drop off donations, the program also saves shareholders money since it cuts down on expensive haul-away costs for cast-offs that were previously disposed of at the 1.8-Acre site.

And it will help all those who have gone to support the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Centers located across Southern California.

According to Pennie Mitten, Salvation Donation coordinator, the driver brought in a remarkable volume of donated goods. The donations that came from Leisure World residents contributed will directly support individuals and families in need that the Salvation Army serves daily.

The next service will be the Saturday, June 13. There will no longer be Salvation Army donation bags in the clubhouses. The donated plastic bags will be at the Library and LW Weekly News Office two weeks before the date of service.

GAF would like to thank the Salvation Army workers and GAF volunteers Anna Derby, Jennifer Shin, Dave Forney, Namil Shin, Charlie Dunn, Geneva Potepan, Harry Varnas, Tracy Day, Shari and Linda Johnson for their hard work under the sun.

The GAF also would like to

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thank everyone who donated monetarily to the GAF and those who donated items to the Salvation Army.

For more information on donating, contact Geneva Potepan at 951-6754271 or email mom4rascal@aol.com.

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AARP Taxes

This year, GAF and AARP volunteers e-filed 731 federal and state income tax returns.

With two new captains at the helm of the program, with the support of the predecessor Diana Lambert, the group exceeded the number of returns forthesecondyearinarow. In addition to the 731 returns that were e-filed, volunteers also prepared four paper returns for the 2025 tax year and five amended returns for 2024 and 2025 tax years.

Of the 31 volunteers, 16 were tax preparers (including two nonresidents), six client facilitators to interview the taxpayer before seeing the preparer, and nine telephone assistants to make the appointments. Of all the volunteers, seven are on the GAF Board members. They are Lisa Brass, Heeja Alameida, Carol Ostergaard, Fara Mccartney, Roberta Johnson, Pat Whitnant and Geneva Potepan.

For next year, people must remember to bring their ID, Social Security 1099SSA, all 1099Rs for IRAs and pensions, 1099Bs for sales of investments, any other tax related documents and their 2025 tax returns. The sooner people can schedule an appointment during the tax season, the better, in case any documents are missing to still have time to file before the April 15 deadline. —Anna Derby The Golden Age Foundation is not affiliated with the Golden Rain Foundation.