East Brunswick retiree
named area AARP leader
By dick metzgar
Staff Writer
FARRAH MAFFAI Sy and Lee Larson, both AARP volunteers, at home in East Brunswick.
EAST BRUNSWICK — Retirement isn’t always easy.
The end of a regular paycheck does not mean the end of bills for senior citizens, and costs may even escalate in such areas as medical care, prescription drugs and insurance. Retirees deal with these expenses on fixed incomes — often inadequate Social Security checks or meager pensions.
Since retirement can sneak up quicker than anticipated, we often are unprepared to deal with the problems and situations associated with it.
However, the American Association for Retired People (AARP) focuses on making the golden years more pleasant and productive for retirees and other seniors.
Lee Larson, 74, and her husband, Sy Larson, 77, both retired educators living in East Brunswick, are heavily involved with AARP volunteer grass-roots programs. In fact, Lee was recently named grass-roots coordinator for the AARP New Jersey Central Region, where she will work with AARP members, AARP chapters and other senior groups. She is also vice president of AARP Chapter No. 4855 in East Brunswick.
Her region encompasses Middlesex, Monmouth, Mercer and Ocean counties. All county and community coordinators report to her. Her husband is a member of the state task force on prescription drugs and president of the Coalition of Union Retiree Organizations (CURO).
"Education is the key," Sy Larson said. "Many senior citizens do not really know what is out there for them. At the grass-roots level, it is our function to get this information out to the public. It is our job to make senior citizens aware of what is going on with the issues that are important to them."
The AARP has the second-largest membership of any similar organization in the country, Sy Larson said. There are 35 million members nationwide, with 1.35 million of these in New Jersey, he said.
"Only the Catholic Church has a larger membership," he said.
While AARP’s state office in Princeton has a paid staff of eight, its statewide volunteer structure operates with a nonpaid staff, which includes grass-roots programs, task forces and community services.
"I believe that AARP is doing society a tremendous favor by speaking out on issues that are vitally important to senior citizens," Sy Larson said. "We’re the power base that moves these issues along. We’re the engine that is the driving force behind AARP. We can’t know everything about every issue, but we have the means to go to the experts and get the answers, and then pass them on to the public."
Lee Larson said that AARP can make a difference in the lives of senior citizens.
"While we cannot donate money, we have the people power," she said. "That is where our real strength is. My job is to be the facilitator at the grass-roots level. Working with the AARP staff, I will implement grass-roots organizing strategies to influence policymakers on the organization’s advocacy policies. I will help recruit volunteers, coordinate lobby activities and work with the media."
According to AARP officials, in 2003 New Jersey volunteers helped achieve the nation’s toughest telemarketing do-not-call law and the strongest predatory lending law in the country. AARP volunteers also fought to protect prescription law programs, won affordable heating and cooling bills for tens of thousands of low-income families, and ensured affordable telephone bills for many low-income households.
The volunteers also provided driver safety courses and tax-aide volunteers for thousands of people.
"We have beefed up our operations in the state, but we are still in need of a lot more volunteers," Sy Larson said.

