The Volunteers with the United Way of Pasco County in Florida are doing an EXCELLENT job! They have prepared more returns this year so far than they did last year and still going strong! WAY TO GO TEAM!!!

Thank you Kelly S for sharing this message

The volunteers at this AARP site work so well together it is like they are a family. They go beyond the expected and norm, both with each other and with the individuals who come in to have their taxes prepared. For example, while I was there, the greeter saw a few clients were waiting to be called to the preparation room, so she filled the time by informing them of some of the fraudulent tax scams currently taking place. In addition, one of the clients had recently lost her husband and was/is still very emotional. When the greeter saw this, she immediately came to her side to console her and assured her that she was in good hands; that they would take very good care of her. (Her deceased husband had always handled the taxes.) I could continue to outline more examples of how the volunteers work seamlessly together but I think these two examples outline the exceptional volunteers at this site.

These are not volunteers who come together once a year to file taxes for people; these are individuals who welcome any and all to their community and provide the best service they can with a giving and open hearts.

Thank you for your volunteer service.

Community Action Partnership of Utah (CAP Utah) continues to do an outstanding job coordinating the statewide VITA program in Utah.   From Logan to Saint George and all points in between, they have you covered!   Consisting of 9 geographical regions with their very own regional coordinator, the Earn It, Keep It, Save It! Utah Coalition has been around for over 10 years.   What also sets them apart is their impressive website at utahtaxhelp.org!  There you can find a VITA site, learn about MFT and even sign up to volunteer in one convenient location.   Check it out to see how CAP Utah does VITA in Utah and a big applause for their participation in VITA all these years!

Thank you for your volunteer service.

Thank you Kori and Leland for sharing

Halfway There!

Keep up the good work!

~~~  Original Message ~~~

First, we want to thank each of you for your dedication and commitment to make this a banner year for return production.  SPEC’s goal is not only to reach 4 million returns for Filing Season 2018, but also serve more taxpayers and touch more lives by offering as many free tax preparation options as possible.  We are confident and poised to accomplish great things this filing season with your assistance.

To help track our progress, we have developed weekly projections to determine where we should be in relation to our 4.0 goal.  Each week this message will be updated with our progress and promote SPEC’s theme: SPEC 4.0, Watch us Grow!

For the week ending 3/4/2018, 356,317 returns were projected to be completed.  We reached an actual count of 313,542 and are almost at the 1.5 million mark. Our cumulative return count is 1,468,961.

While the actual count is below the SPEC projection, there is still time to narrow the gap!

If you have any ideas on ways to help this initiative, we would love to hear from you! Some of you may consider extended hours or days.  Every little bit helps!

Thanks for your engagement and all you are doing to provide free tax assistance to the taxpayers in your community!

SPEC Headquarters

Thank you Rhonda T for sharing this awesome story.

Under the sponsorship of Heart of West Michigan United Way, Kent County Tax Credit Coalition (KCTCC) has been offering VITA service in Western Michigan since 2004. Over the years KCTCC has managed to retain an average of 150 – 160 volunteers each year, for 2018 KCTCC has a total of 227 dedicated volunteers working at 12 sites. When Brenda B., Program Manager of KCTCC was asked what she believes contributes to the success of their volunteer retention she replied “ We try to keep it exciting for our volunteers”.

With help from their marketing department, workplace campaign and, donor relations Heart of West Michigan United Way has been able to advertise and recruit using a variety of sources including flyers, coupons, bus signs, bill boards, and social media to name a few. This year’s big hit was the use of beverage coasters advertising Free Tax Preparation. “The coasters were distributed throughout Kent County wherever people gathered.  We handed them out in churches, stores, restaurants, on the street and, even bars so I was told” laughed Brenda. Volunteers are also involved in the recruitment process; with the support of local athletic teams volunteers can win event tickets by recruiting other volunteers and having their names entered into drawings. Volunteers have won tickets for Grand Rapids Griffins (Hockey) and Grand Rapids Drive (Basketball) games.

Many thanks to everyone involved in the Heart of West Michigan United Way / Kent County Tax Credit Coalition VITA Program for a Job Well Done!

Bert has been a volunteer for 25 years.  Thank you for your volunteer service.  Bert was featured in an article written by Jenny Sparks/ Loveland Reporter-Herald

Thank you Harry and Rebecca for sharing

Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary of being a VITA volunteer.  Thank you for your volunteer service.

Recognized by Fox 4 as a “Hometown Hero”

Click here to view the video and news article.

Thank you Pennie C from United Way of Tarrant County for sharing this wonderful story.