Young Volunteers Use Math Superpowers for Good

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is the nation's largest free tax assistance and preparation service. Every year, from early February to mid-April, our volunteers provide tax assistance at almost 3,500 locations around the country — in libraries, malls, banks and community centers in all 50 states — with a focus on taxpayers who are over 50 and have low to moderate income.

The majority of our Tax-Aide volunteers are over 50, too, but not all of them. Meet two young volunteers who are using their love of numbers to make a real difference in their communities.

“Miss Tustin 2024” Takes Center Stage

Jocelyn Garcia never expected her love of spreadsheets to translate into a passion for preparing taxes. But that’s exactly what happened.

Jocelyn was attending Irvine Valley College when she started devoting her spare time to Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), an organization that helps families with low income file their taxes for free. A committed volunteer since childhood, she felt drawn to VITA’s mission. “I thought it would be a good way to use my major to help people.”

After transferring to Cal State Fullerton for her accounting degree, Jocelyn continued to volunteer with VITA. She also began representing her home city of Tustin, California, after winning the Miss Tustin 2024 scholarship competition with a rap vocal. When she met Tax-Aide site coordinator Ken Higman at Tustin Tiller Days, a city fair, she struck up a conversation about her volunteer work.

“He said, ‘We’d really like it if Miss Tustin was able to volunteer. Maybe you could do intake interviews,’” she says. “And that’s when I told him, ‘Well, I can actually do taxes!’”

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide trains its volunteers extensively, in keeping with IRS standards. Upon finishing the training, Jocelyn became IRS-certified as a tax preparer. For the 2024 tax season, she juggled her day job as an accountant with her volunteer work at several Tax-Aide sites. “I was always back and forth preparing taxes. They used me a lot because I speak Spanish,” she says. “It got hectic, but I love helping people.”

What started as a way to use her skills for good has grown into something even more meaningful for Jocelyn.

“Sometimes it feels like I’m a tax preparer and a therapist,” she says. “You just hear some of the saddest things. I had someone tell me that their husband passed away a week earlier. Another person told me that their son just got deported.”

Jocelyn knows that tax season often carries an emotional weight, so she listens intently to the stories of loss and hardship and offers a shoulder to cry on. “Sometimes people just need someone to talk to,” she says.

Based on her own experiences, Jocelyn encourages anyone who’s curious about volunteering to take the leap. “You start seeing life a little bit differently,” she explains.

“You might feel sometimes that you don't have a lot, but then you meet people that really don't have anything. And if you can make one person's day, it feels like you change the world for them.”

Having Fun While Doing Good

Ben Wimsatt isn’t your typical tax preparer. While many volunteers with AARP Foundation Tax-Aide are retirees, Ben was still navigating the halls of Stony Point High School in Round Rock, Texas, when he joined the program.

“I learned about it at Thanksgiving dinner,” Ben remembers. “My mom’s friend has a son who’s an accountant and, when I mentioned my interest in accounting, he told me about Tax-Aide. He said it was something I could do at my age without needing an advanced degree.”

In 2023, his first season with Tax-Aide, Ben was 17 — too young to be certified as a tax preparer. So he started as a staff facilitator, taking calls and answering non-tax-related questions.

“While I was doing that, AARP Foundation had me go through the tax training program provided by the IRS. My district coordinator said that if I finished the training program, I might be able to do some simple taxes,” Ben says. “And the day I finished the training program I prepared a couple of simple, W2-only tax returns.”

Ben turned 18 in time for the 2024 season and completed the more extensive training to get IRS certification, which allowed him to tackle more involved tax returns. Every Saturday, he set out for the Georgetown Public Library (about 10 miles north of Round Rock) to join his fellow volunteers, many of whom were quite a bit older than he was. The age difference didn’t seem to matter.

“They were incredibly helpful and kind,” he says about the other volunteers. “But yeah, I was definitely on the younger side there!”

For Ben, who’s now a freshman studying accounting at Arizona State University, the best thing about volunteering with Tax-Aide is serving others while doing something he enjoys. “I think it’s powerful to be able to use your talents to help members of the community,” he says. “The value of Tax-Aide for me, personally, is just getting to meet people that I wouldn’t ordinarily meet. It’s a pleasure to get to interact and help the community in that way.”

Learn more about AARP Foundation Tax-Aide and how to become a Tax-Aide Volunteer.

Read more stories about how our programs have helped people find hope, and about the volunteers who give so much of themselves to help others.