Six TIAA members met at the DISD Francisco "Pancho" Medrano Middle School early on MLK Day – January 21st. Our objectives were to assist some 90 “City Year” members paint murals in the relatively new school hallways and to build lunch time picnic tables for students' use outside. City Year members are part of the “AmeriCorps” organization – the domestic version of “Peace Corps” - and they are dedicated to strengthening communities.
On a cold and windy night, twelve TIAA members bundled up to go Christmas lights hunting -- and found millions of them.
On October 23, 2018, two seminars were held at the Plano Event Center in Plano, TX to discuss TI health insurance plans, Social Security info and medical changes that would be of interest to TI retirees. The first one was at 10am for pre-65 TI retirees and there were about 100 in attendance who enjoyed the goodies furnished by TI before the meeting began. The second one was at 1:30 pm for Medicare-eligible TI retirees and around 385 came to hear the news, ask questions about health insurance plans and to partake in TI's refreshments.
Nine, adventurous TIAA souls headed to Fredericksburg on September 25, 2018 to check in at the Main Street B&B. We enjoyed "happy hour" on their upstairs balcony overlooking the main street at 5:00 before adventuring out. That evening we walked to Mamacitas for Mexican food before carpooling to the Enchanted Rock to view the dark skies (forgot that it was harvest moon time and the stars were certainly out-shown that night).
The annual TI retiree luncheon will take place on October 4 at the Mesquite Convention Center. A wonderful program is in store as we recognize more than 50 years of TI innovation in consumer electronics.
One of Crossroads Community Service's goals is to ensure that all people in Dallas County have ready access to nourishing foods. A second Crossroads’ mission is to provide life skills education that can help clients accomplish goals that are important to them. Crossroads provides clothing to in-house pantry clients as well as clients from The Stewpot. Crossroads partners with educational and medical institutions in Dallas County in order to seek more holistic solutions to deeply entrenched social and economic problems.
More than 30 TIAA members crowded into a conference room at the Plano Event Center on July 24 and welcomed Linda Smittle home (again!) We spent two hours listening about her 27-month fascinating adventure while serving with the Peace Corps in Thailand.
On Thursday July 12, over 60 TIAA members and guests came together at the Plano Event Center for a seminar focused on financial topics of interest. First, they were given an update on the economy as well as financial tips for seniors by Financial Advisor Lisa Calloway. This included a discussion of recent market trends, geopolitical tensions, financial scams and ways to protect your financial identity.
On June 28, 11 TIAA volunteers met at the Texins Activity Center to go to Metrocrest Services located in Farmers Branch, Texas. Metrocrest coordinator Brittani suggested we break into two teams so five of us worked in their food pantry and six of us were transported to their clothing distribution center located in Carrollton, Texas. The pantry team spent the morning stocking the food shelves with canned goods, breads, produce, and household items. The second team unloaded bags of donated clothes and shoes, then sorted and hung them onto racks for client distribution.
Through the TI Foundation, TI retirees have long had the ability to match their donations to charitable organizations in education and arts, as well as United Way. Now, the TI Foundation board is expanding the scope of its matching gifts program to include any charitable organization, as long as the primary purpose of the organization is not partisan politics, religion or misaligned with TI’s corporate values. This change opens the program to thousands of charities that previously were not included.