AARP vote to retire local chapter

The organization had trouble finding people to serve as officers.

A once-busy chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons has voted to become inactive, leaving some members to worry about the future of the Bella Vista Recycling Center.

More than 30 members were present at the last membership meeting of AARP Chapter 109. The chapter has about 100 members and they were notified by phone of the meeting, board member Marie Herr said.

They voted to approve the board’s recommendation to change the status of the chapter to “inactive.”

The group won’t dissolve, vice president Bill Keller said, but it will not meet either. It might be possible to call a special meeting if needed, Keller said.

The recommendation came after the office of the president had been vacant for close to year, Herr explained. Many organizations in the area are sharing the same challenge, she said — getting members to step up and take responsibility.

The chapter started the Bella Vista Recycling Center as a community service project in 1973, member Wally Sheldon said.

There are two organizations that share the management of the Recycling Center, he explained. When Cooper Communities gave the recyclers the location just off U.S. Highway 71, they needed an entity to take the title. Since Cooper wanted the tax benefits of that donation, they needed a nonprofit organization to take over the property, so the Bella Vista Recycling Foundation was formed. The Foundation owns the property and purchased some of the equipment, but the AARP Chapter pays the bills, he explained at the meeting.

Chapter 109 pays the contractors who operate the Center and approves all the grants that the center bestows, Sheldon said. Grants, based on the hours worked by volunteers, are distributed to nonprofits around Benton County.

Each year the Center gives away about $300,000, Keller said. The Chapter and the Foundation share a treasurer.

Ron Lambert, a former chapter president, said that there may be an issue with the Foundation taking over all the operations of the center, but he thinks it can be worked out. The membership approved a motion to ask Lambert to get in touch with the state AARP office and ask for advice.

Lambert speculated that the Foundation might need to inform the IRS of the change, but something as simple as a letter might be sufficient. Also, the documents that created the Foundation may need to be amended.

The center has been running smoothly, coordinator Lou Stirek told the members at last week’s meeting. They can always use more volunteers, he said, but they manage to get most of the work done. He doesn’t expect that to change.

Among the groups that the Recycling Center volunteers support are the Bella Vista Animal Shelter, the Fly-Tyers, the Library and Oasis, a program for women in transition.