*Portions of this article were originally posted in a story by the AARP Foundation.
Dave Martz, a volunteer district coordinator for the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program, is a retired accountant with years of tax preparation experience under his belt. He currently oversees five Tax-Aide sites in the downtown Denver area, including Centro San Juan Diego.
Dave and his wife, Kathy, who both retired in 2008, have volunteered their time with AARP for nearly 15 years, over 10 of which have been at Centro San Juan Diego and the four additional sites.
Dave and Kathy both have been a tremendous resource to the Centro San Juan Diego Tax-Aide site and program, assisting in volunteer recruitment, training, tax preparation and quality review. They jump in wherever they are needed and ensure, first and foremost, that all site volunteers are trained and IRS-certified before the beginning of each tax season.
At Centro San Juan Diego, this training and certification process is taken a step further, as volunteers are required to assist in either Spanish or English, depending on the clients’ needs.
“The Centro San Juan Diego site is unique because it is primarily set up to help Spanish-speakers with their tax returns, and has counselors who can provide the service in English as well,” Dave says. It is so important to highlight this distinction because “most other sites are the reverse, focused on helping English-speakers and may happen to have someone who speaks Spanish.”
The tax code is constantly changing and becoming more and more complex. “Taxes have become more and more difficult for people,” Dave says. “We cater to a lot of seniors, people in their 70s and 80s. They don’t know how to use computers a lot of times, or they don’t have the access. Sometimes it’s just too much for them to deal with.”
Despite the challenges these changes present, and even with the variety of complications caused by the pandemic over the past few years, Dave, Kathy, and the Tax-Aide team continue to volunteer, freely giving of their time and talent to people who genuinely need their help. “This is a talent that I have, a God-given talent that I can still do,” he adds. “And as long as I can still do it and give to someone who obviously cannot do it, who struggles with it, then I get the joy and satisfaction that I’m helping all these people get what they deserve.”
This year, Dave and 22 other volunteers worked diligently to prepare 397 tax returns, resulting in $396,085 in total refunds for the community! More than 80% of the total clients served this year were Hispanic/Latino.
While 2023 marks the last year that Dave will officially serve as district coordinator, he plans to continue working closely with the team as a volunteer. “Centro San Juan Diego will always have a special place in our [his and Kathy’s] hearts, and we will continue to help any way we can,” he says.
If you are interested in learning more about free tax preparation at Centro San Juan Diego, or if you would like to volunteer, please visit the links below!
