TROY — The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program, which provides free tax preparation for senior citizens at the Troy Senior Citizens Center and more than 200 other locations across Ohio, is looking for volunteer tax preparers for next year.

Tax-Aide volunteers have an immediate and measurable impact on the lives of the people they serve. Volunteers save often financially pressed senior citizens the cost of paying a private preparer and provide a calm, steady and reassuring hand in an often stressful situation.

Last tax season, volunteers working in Troy filed 436 federal and state returns, primarily for senior citizens, saving them an estimated $112,500 in tax preparation fees and enabling them to collect an average refund of $1,150 each.

Anyone who does his own taxes is an ideal candidate for the all-volunteer program. Volunteers receive IRS-approved training, work on AARP Foundation-provided computers and are mentored throughout the tax season.

Volunteers come from all walks of life, including beauticians, accountants, truck drivers and managers. Volunteers who prefer not to prepare tax returns are also needed to do such things as manage taxpayer appointments and see that taxpayers have the necessary paperwork.

For more information about volunteering, please contact Nancy Anderson, district coordinator

at [email protected] or go to the Tax-Aide website — www.aarpfoundation.org/TaxaideVolunteer — or call 1-888-227-7667.