Volunteer program to benefit from grant

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- The Retired Senior Volunteer Program at Tri-Valley Developmental Services will benefit from a grant the program has received from the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program.

The program recently received a $22,765 grant from SEK-CAP which will be used to pay two part-time RSVP coordinators; one in Tri-Valley's Chanute office, the other in the agency's Fort Scott office, for the next six months. RSVP is sponsored by TVDS and serves Allen, Bourbon, Neosho and Woodson counties in Southeast Kansas. Volunteers in the program must be 55 years of age or older.

"This is exciting not only for the RSVP Program Coordinators the grant will fund, but for the recognition from SEK-CAP of the impact the RSVP program has on all four counties it serves," RSVP Program Director Patty Allen said. "The economic stress this area is facing makes it very important for the RSVP to function adequately with full staff in order for volunteers to be recruited and placed to meet the increase of critical community needs."

The grant funds are provided through the Community Service Block Grant, which provides federal funding for community action agencies and other similar programs, and the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, an economic stimulus package intended to create jobs and promote investment and consumer spending during the recession.

RSVP benefits numerous entities in the four counties served by TVDS, including libraries, chambers of commerce, senior centers, after-school programs, school greeter programs, Neosho County Community College, Fort Scott Community College, Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center, and Mercy Health Center. The program also provides transportation for seniors to medical appointments.

Last year, volunteers in the RSVP program in Tri-Valley's four-county service region contributed more than 130,000 hours of community service, TVDS Director of Public Relations and Grants Anna Methvin said.

Information on volunteering with RSVP or obtaining a volunteer for a local organization is available by calling Marlene Arndt at TVDS in Fort Scott at (620) 223-3990, extension 205, Patty Allen or Judy Baker at TVDS in Chanute at 431-3902, or online at www.sekrsvp.com.