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With first-come-first-served help on taxes, more than a dozen senior citizens waited outside the library in the cold for more than 20 minutes.

By 8:50 a.m. — 10 minutes before the library opened — there were more than 20 people in line and more trickling in. Others waited in their car to stay out of the cold.

Bill Carter of Holt braved the cold. He was near the front of the line.

“I come here because it doesn’t cost anything,” said Carter, who was there for a second consecutive year.

AARP offers free tax help for senior citizens at Mid-Continent Public Library branches throughout the Northland. Volunteers are on hand from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays

at the Kearney branch, 100 S. Platte Clay Way. They were there for the first time this year on Feb. 4.

David Drollinger, volunteer, said the crowd of about two dozen when the doors opened

is typical on the first day.

“It keeps that way the whole time we’re here,” Drollinger said.

The volunteers are

also willing to help moderate-income or single-parent families who need help.

“The emphasis is on the elderly and needy,” Drollinger said.

Sometimes they don’t have to do someone’s taxes, just answer a few questions. But for many they help e-file the taxes online.

Each volunteer goes through a week of training, take a comprehensive test and is certified by the IRS, Drollinger said.

Some were there to get help with unusual circumstances. Sharon Sykes of Kearney was there to get help filing her deceased mother’s taxes. She was in the front of the line in the cold.

“We have friends who come regularly, they said ‘get here early,’” Sykes said.

There were five volunteers helping people in the order they signed up. They will be there each week until April 15 — the filing deadline.

For more information on the program, visit www.aarp.org/taxaide.

THE DETAILS

Tax help from AARP in the Northland at Mid-Continent Public Library branches:

- 9 a.m. Mondays — Claycomo branch, 309 N.E. Missouri Highway 69, 455-5030.

- 9 a.m. Tuesdays — Parkville branch, 8815 Tom Watson Parkway, 741-4721.

- 9 a.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays — Liberty branch, 1000 Kent St., 781-9240.

- 9 a.m. Wednesdays — Smithville branch, 120 Richardson St., 532-0166.

- 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays — Excelsior Springs branch, 1460 Kearney Road, 630-6721.

- 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays — Riverside branch, 2700 N.W. Vivion Road, 741-6288.

- 9 a.m. Thursdays — North Oak branch, 8700 N. Oak Trafficway, in Kansas City, 436-4385.

- 9 a.m. Thursdays — Kearney branch, 100 S. Platte Clay Way, 628-5055.

Tax help from AARP is also available at:

- 9 a.m. Mondays — Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, 1600 N. Missouri Highway 291, in Liberty.

- 9a.m. Mondays — The Salvation Army, 5306 N. Oak Trafficway, in Kansas City.

- 6 p.m. Mondays — Antioch Bible Baptist Church, 800 N.E. 72nd St., in Gladstone.

- 9 a.m. Tuesdays — North Kansas City Community Center, 1999 Iron St., in Kansas City.

Kearney Editor Kevin M. Smith can be reached at 628-6010 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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