Senior volunteer program deserves a life preserver

RSVP stands for Retired Senior Volunteer Program. This program is designed to allow those retired seniors who have time on their hands and want to give back to the community to connect to people and organizations that need some volunteer help. Most of the organizations that need volunteer help are non-profits whose budgets are very limited and without this help would have to close their doors. Not all recipients of the volunteers helping hands are non-profits, the local police and sheriff office use many of the volunteers to do desk jobs and other tasks. This help allows the paid officers to do other necessary tasks thus helping local law enforcement budgets.

Seniors are the fastest-growing demographic in North Idaho. When the seniors move here they bring with them profits from the sale of their previous home, lifelong savings, retirement funds/pensions, and many other sources of income. These are active adults who as well as fishing, golfing and hunting are looking for other things to do with their time.

This is where the RSVP organization helps. RSVP is a federally funded program that administers the connection between the volunteering seniors and the organizations that need their help. The federal grant to run RSVP is very small (less than $70,000) per year for the whole program. All Area Agencies on Aging — and the programs they offer, including RSVP — are required to have a sponsor. Originally, starting in 1973, the Area Agency on Aging of North Idaho, including RSVP, were sponsored by CAP. In 1987, North Idaho College, sponsor of Head Start since 1973, became the sponsor of the Area Agency on Aging and the RSVP program.

Although federal RSVP grant funding has been frozen at 2011 levels, the partnership with NIC has continued to work very well, and the program has remained an integral part of the Area Agency on Aging for the past 45 years. Apparently NIC management was unhappy that the RSVP grant did not allow for administrative support costs by the sponsor, which include HR, Payroll, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, etc. Ironically, these administrative support services have always been provided to the Area Agency on Aging at no cost, on an in-kind basis.

It’s a shame that NIC’s stance pertaining to the RSVP grant, was responsible for killing the program. So much for NIC giving back to the community! Perhaps it’s time for Governor Otter and the Idaho Commission on Aging to include RSVP program costs within their budget, since the program plays such an important role in serving Idaho’s seniors.

Most of the seniors do not use NIC’s facilities for education. However, they still get to pay 7.5 percent of their property taxes to NIC. And besides that, NIC ALWAYS takes their full 3 percent of the forgone taxes that they are allowed. These incomes as well as their extensive property holdings (education corridor) and their tuition income puts NIC in a very comfortable financial position.

So, since the seniors pay their fair share in taxes and all they want is to give back to the community, why doesn’t NIC step up and donate a few dollars worth of time instead killing a worthwhile program for the community? They must need all that money to hire another over-paid administrator.

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Dennis Edelbrock is a Hayden resident.