Volunteer Program at CF Receives $92,044 Grant

July 19, 2012

The Corporation for National and Community Service has awarded the Marion County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program funding of $92,044 for the first year of a three-year grant which began July 1. The College of Central Florida has been the Marion County sponsor of RSVP since 2002 and is responsible for coordinating and facilitating volunteerism in nonprofit, governmental and human service agencies.

RSVP at CF currently has 748 volunteers working in 63 agencies and organizations in Marion County. For the year ending June 30, 2012, Marion County RSVP volunteers contributed in excess of 124,800 hours of service valued at approximately $2.2 million.

In the coming year, RSVP will focus on education, environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, veterans and military families, and health futures, said Jerone Gamble, coordinator of Senior Services at CF. The new national strategy will require that local sponsors and volunteers strive to demonstrate specific, measurable positive results in the five impact areas. For example, Marion County volunteers in education will be trained as readers for preschool children and strive to impact their emergent literacy skills.

“RSVP Marion is grateful for the support of all of the agencies and individual volunteers who have participated,” Gamble said. “We are actively recruiting additional volunteers and agencies that have a service focus that is consistent with the new impact areas.”

To learn more about volunteering through RSVP, attend a volunteer recruitment/training session, normally held at noon Wednesdays at the CF Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road. Call 352-291-4444 for details. For information about volunteer opportunities, visit www.volunteermatch.org.