Letter to the Editor: Submitted by the local RSVP Advisory Council

To the Editor:

If you knew that you, your loved ones, seniors, children, parents, patients, taxpayers, hungry people, and indeed every person in Winneshiek, Howard, and Allamakee County were receiving critical services at a cost that’s only a small fraction of their value, would you want to support that?

Of course you would.  That’s the benefit of RSVP, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program right here in our neighborhood. Our own local RSVP is one of the top programs in the country in terms of both volunteer strength per resident and financial value. With our RSVP, nearly 600 volunteers provide over 42,000 hours a year in services to people and communities across Allamakee, Howard and Winneshiek Counties.

And RSVP is such an efficient and cost-effective effort that the program has a budget of only $100,000 yet produces over $1,200,000 of value for our community. When money is tight like it is, volunteer effort is more important to our own community than ever!

RSVP operates with a tiny and hardworking staff boosted by the work of volunteers. A small amount of funding for RSVP comes from local funders, which is wonderful. The large portion of RSVP funds come from AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism.

Any cuts to RSVP will hurt our community, and will place a greater burden on local governments, state government, and our people. We can’t afford that now.

Please contact U.S. Senators Grassley, at (202) 224-3744, and Ernst, at (202) 224-3254, and Congresswoman Hinson, at (202) 224-3254, to show your support for volunteers in our neighborhood. Thank you.
 
From our local RSVP Advisory Council:
Pam Kranzler (Howard County)
Cheryl Martins (Allamakee)
Judy Mowry (Winneshiek)
Val Reinke (Allamakee)
Cindy Simpson (Winneshiek)
Luther Snow (Winneshiek)
Cindy Yslas (Howard)
Kristie Wiltgen (Allamakee)