The following is a piece written by Marv Worthen in 2022. Marv was the driving force behind the Sun City Community Association Network and its immediate predecessor. He died Dec. 15, 2019, but this piece still speaks volumes about charitable giving for local organizations. Marv’s wife, Sue Worthen, currently serves on the Sun City CAN board. — Hugh Duncan, Sun City CAN board president.
In the past few weeks, there have been several short letters in our local newspaper warning people about charitable organizations where too much of the money goes to their high paid executives.
In Sun City, we are very fortunate — we have many organizations helping make your life more enjoyable and comfortable with very little going to salaries of any kind.
These organizations keep your streets and parkways clean, patrol your neighborhoods looking for problems, make certain yards and homes are properly maintained, certify and enforce the age restriction, lovingly supply food to hungry adults and children, assist qualified residents in payment of their annual property assessment, feed you lunch and offer daily programs to entertain and inform you, hunt locally and worldwide for new people to move to Sun City, help condominium owners understand the multitude of laws and requirements, loan furniture and equipment to use in emergencies or when visitors arrive, and one (Sun City Community Assistance Network) that does your taxes for you, supplies a weekly session with a local attorney, houses a county assessor’s office in your community and finds programs to help residents survive on low incomes, all at no cost.
You are correct — no one organization could possibly do all of those things. They are our Sun City community groups. Unfortunately, too many of our residents take all of these services for granted. We all took Sun City Area Transit, Inc. for granted and — oh my! — our bus service gone with only costly proposals able to return bus service to our many people who are in great need of affordable transportation.
The total combined membership cost of all of these organizations is probably about $150 per year. I guarantee if we were a city you would be paying much more than that in taxes to supply all these services.
Why are you looking to Phoenix and further to make your special contributions? Make those contributions in Sun City and you will not need to worry about your money going to big salaries.
In 2009, one of our Sun City residents received 318 requests for donations from outside of Sun City. That is one for every day of mail service.
I have included a partial list of your Sun City organizations with phone numbers. All are housed in either Sun City or Youngtown and have local addresses.
Sun City Community Assistance Network, 10195 W. Coggins Drive, Sun City, 623-933-7530.
Banner Olive Branch Senior Center, 11250 N. 107th Ave., Sun City, 623-974-6797.
Sun City PRIDES, P.O. Box 1463, Sun City, 623-972-6558.
Sun City Foundation, 10626 W. Thunderbird Blvd., Sun City, 623-561-4620.
Sun City Visitors Center, 16824 N. 99th Ave., Sun City, 623-977-5000.
Sun City Home Owners Association, 10401 W. Coggins Drive., Sun City, 623-974-4718.
Sun City Condominium Owners Association, (updated address) 11132 W. California Ave., Youngtown, 623-974-9035.
Sun City Sunshine Service, 9980 W. Santa Fe Drive, Sun City, 623-974-2561.
Sun City Posse, 10861 W. Sunland Drive, Sun City, 623-972-2555.
Valley View Community Food Bank, (updated address) 10771 W. Peoria Ave., Sun City, 623-933-3358.
In the past few years, most of these very necessary organizations have experienced a decrease in membership or donations. It is now time for all of us to pull together to get out that checkbook and become more responsible residents of Sun City. Each of these organizations is only one year away from going the route of our former SCAT bus service.
Don’t let that happen.
I guarantee you there are no organizations in downtown Phoenix just waiting to replace these organizations or services for all of our Sun City residents.
Editor’s Note: The Independent welcomes all points of view. Email your opinions, pro or con, to AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
