Volunteers Needed to Help Working Families with Tax Preparation
Volunteers are needed to offer free tax preparation to help working families receive the federal and state tax credits they have earned. No previous experience is required and training is provided.
In tax year 2014, 230 volunteers provided free income tax preparation for low- to moderate-income families as part of the Money In Your Pocket (MIYP) campaign, a community collaboration of organizations committed to the economic stability of local families. Nationally the effort is known as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or VITA. Volunteers filed 5,246 tax returns, resulting in more than $5.2 million returned to local families. This helped individuals and families increase their income by an average of six percent.
Volunteers will offer tax preparation services at designated sites in the Capital Region from January 28 through April 15 during day and evening hours. Volunteers will receive training to prepare computerized, electronic returns. MIYP also needs volunteers to serve as greeters, which requires only one hour of online training.
Informational sessions will be held at the following locations for those interested in learning more about the program:
Tuesday, October 6, 6-8 p.m. – Tri County Community Action, 1514 Derry Street, Harrisburg.
Tuesday, October 13, 6-8 p.m. – New Hope Ministries, 5228 East Trindle Road, Mechanicsburg.
Tuesday, October 20, 6-8 p.m. – Employment Skills Center, 29 S. Hanover Street, Carlisle.
Monday, November 2, 6-8 p.m. – Widener University Commonwealth Law School, 3800 Vartan Way, Harrisburg.
Tuesday, November 10, 6-8 p.m. – Goodwill Keystone Area, 1150 Goodwill Drive, Harrisburg.
Thursday, November 12, 4-6 p.m. – Northern Dauphin Human Services Center, 295 State Street, Elizabethville.
For information on volunteering, contact Jennifer Hilt, United Way of the Capital Region’s family economic stability coordinator, at 724.4068 or by e-mail at jhilt@uwcr.org.
