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| 7/27/2010 1:02:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Fizzled Retired and Senior Volunteer Program now operating as Volunteer Connection
MAUREEN VANDER SANDEN
Elkhorn Independent Editor
After Walworth County officials received news in recent months that funding for the local Retired and Senior Volunteer Program would cease, they quickly got busy teaming up with leaders of the organization to devise a way to continue the program that hosts hundreds of volunteers who provide essential services throughout the county free of charge.
The County Board of Supervisors approved spending $6,000 July 13 to help the new organization, Volunteer Connection Inc., get off the ground.
The money would help pay for filing fees to gain non-profit status and other fees associated with applying for grant money to keep the program going, County Administrator David Bretl said.
He explained at the recent County Board meeting that RSVP got news in the spring that is would lose its sponsor, RSVP of Rock County.
To make matters worse, he said, the Walworth County program lost its opportunity to apply for a three-year grant, which provides 90 percent of the group's funding.
Because RSVP-Rock County dropped the Walworth County program, citing the need to make cuts due to the current economic climate, RSVP-Walworth County no longer had a fiscal agent required in order to be awarded the National & Community Service grant.
The CNCS grant provided $56,385 to fund Patti O'Brien's full-time position as director of the program, overseeing nearly 400 volunteers locally.
As of June 30, RSVP and O'Brien's job no longer existed. However she has agreed to continue her work as the director of Volunteer Connection, free of charge, until she can secure grant dollars under the new program.
Volunteer Connection needs $65,000 annually in order to operate, she said.
The money would fund her position, volunteers' mileage, insurance to cover them, phone services, postage and promotional materials.
The county will continue to provide rent-free space at the Government Center in Elkhorn.
When O'Brien first got the news that the grant application deadline was up, she feared that the 388 RSVP volunteers who had provided more than 40,000 hours in services last year to the area, would disperse due to the lack of direction for the program's future.
However, today she is happy to report that 95 percent of the volunteers from RSVP are continuing their services through Volunteer Connection.
"Many volunteers and non-profit agencies would have been affected," she said. "The (program) is vital to many of these agencies as well as our volunteers."
While the former program was limited to retired individuals and senior citizens ages 55 and older, the new program is open to anyone, Patti said.
In fact, the number of volunteers has already increased, with 500 people signed up to provide complimentary services to local libraries, schools, food pantries, medical facilities and in assisting elderly, disabled and those struggling financially, among others.
"We hope to provide the same level of services," O'Brien said, adding that with the amount of dedication that the volunteers provide, she does not think that goal will be a hard one to meet.
"Our volunteers are awesome, and that's what our program is all about," she said.
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact O'Brien by calling the Volunteer Connection office at (262) 472-9632.
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