RSVP Volunteer Program

The RSVP Volunteer Program recruits Ulster County residents age 55 years or older and assesses and matches their talents, interests, skills and experience to one or more of the member agencies which provide hundreds of volunteer opportunities throughout the community. The RSVP Volunteer Program promotes the idea of engaging seniors as resources in providing a core of volunteers willing and able to tackle the most pressing community problems in the areas of economic development, education, environment, health, human services and safety. An advisory council assists in the overall development of this Ulster County Community College sponsored program.

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The RSVP Volunteer Program is headquartered in Room 409 of the Business Resource Center (BRC), located at Development Court, Kingston, NY. The mailing address is: RSVP Volunteer Program, 409 Development court, Kingston, NY 12401. The office may be reached by phone at 845: 339-2181, FAX at 845: 339-2164, or by e-mail at canzianc@sunyulster.edu.
Driving directions to the BRC can be found at www.sunyulster.edu/brc/directions.

RSVP Volunteer Program is funded in part by the Corporation for National Service. Other funding includes: New York State Office For Aging, Faith in Action, and the Ulster County Legislature.

~ ANNOUNCEMENTS ~

Are you interested in becoming a RSVP Volunteer?
Click here for a copy of the Volunteer Enrollment & Skills/Interest Form.
Click here for a list of volunteer positions.

(You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the above links, click here to download a free copy.)

~ RSVP in the NEWS ~

RSVP PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEERING

NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK IS APRIL 15-21, 2007 AND RSVP PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEERING ... The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), which is hosted by Ulster County Community College at its Business Resource Center in Kingston, is seeking new volunteers for local agencies and organizations. Short-term and long-term assignments are available in advocacy, mentoring, teaching, tutoring, insurance and tax counseling, transportation, computer and office work, business counseling and crisis intervention, as well as work as museum assistants and docents. There is a special need for volunteers in services for youth, senior citizens and the families of the incarcerated.
Although by tradition RSVP volunteers are over 55 years of age, the RSVP office can refer younger volunteers for assignment. Since there are opportunities for after-workday and weekend assignments, volunteers do not need to be retired.

photo of RSVP volunteers Marvin Moskowitz and Alex Averin
Marvin Moskowitz (left) of Woodstock, one of 3 volunteer leaders in RSVP’s Neighbor to Neighbor program, discusses an assignment with Alex Averin of Marbletown. Averin is one of 36 volunteer drivers in the program. Together with 25 Friendly Visitors, Neighbor to Neighbor volunteers served 200 people throughout Ulster County in 2006.

     According to Catherine Canzian, director of SUNY Ulster’s RSVP, volunteers are able to learn new skills, gain experience for a career change, get involved in their local communities and meet new people, while providing valuable service. Furthermore, studies have shown that volunteering leads to better health for the volunteer.
     For information about volunteer opportunities, phone RSVP at (845) 339-2164 or visit their website at http://people.sunyulster.edu/RSVP.
     Orientation workshops at the Business Resource Center for new volunteers will be held on April 18 at 9:30 a.m.; April 23 at 10:30 a.m.; May 4 at 1:00 p.m.; June 11 at 10:30 a.m. and July 20 at 1:00 p.m.

DAILY FREEMAN
11/14/2005

How to help? For some the answer is RSVP
By Hallie Arnold, Freeman Staff

STONE RIDGE - For more than 20 years, hundreds of Ulster County's older residents have given countless hours of their time, skills, and compassion to nursing homes, schools, hospitals, and community organizations as part of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.

The program, also known as RSVP, is run out of an office on the campus of Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge and counts 480 volunteers among its ranks.

photo of RSVP volunteers Betty Sopris and Jon Mortenson
RSVP volunteers Betty Sopris and Jon Mortenson
get meals ready for transport for the Angel Food East program.

"We have volunteers working in the health area, education, safety, environment and economic development," says program director Cathy Canzian. "We also have some specialty programs run through and with ... Ulster County Community College."

The program was started about 24 years ago with a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, which still funds the group.

The members of the Retired and Senior Volunteer program fill a number of much-needed roles in the community, Canzian said.

Some of their work is helping their peers. The Neighbor to Neighbor program pairs seniors who are less mobile, either due to physical limitations or lack of transportation, with volunteer drivers, who ferry their charges to doctor appointments or to otherwise attend to their medical needs.

At the county's Business Resource Center, volunteers teach in the Senior Net Learning Center, which introduces area seniors to computer and Internet technology. At area nursing homes, RSVP volunteers help out with group activities and serve as an extra pair of hands where needed.

"We serve as a bridge between those who can give, and those in need," Canzian said.

Members of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program help in local schools, tutoring students, while others take part in the Pen Pal program, corresponding with elementary school students.

"A lot who can no longer leave their homes, or their health warrants that they aren't out at the volunteer sites they usually worked at, write to fourth-grade students at two schools in the community, and they stay in touch with the youth, and the youth learn a lot about local history from the volunteers," Canzian said.

There's even a SWAT team of senior volunteers - the Senior Workers Attack Team - which responds to the short-term, episodic needs of local not-for-profits in the community, whether by processing a bulk mailing for the United Way, delivering flowers for the American Cancer Society's spring fund-raiser, or putting together educational packages for the Health and Safety Institute.

Pat Merck of Tillson, who has been volunteering through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program for about seven years, is in charge of the SWAT team and takes part in the PenPal program with students at Chambers and Rosendale Elementary Schools.

She said over the years, she's recruited several of her friends to take part in the many volunteer opportunities available to local seniors through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.

"If they have nothing to do, I'll tell them to come up and volunteer," Merck said. "They have sites all over the place. It's amazing that they can match you in any place where you feel comfortable. There's a lot to do. It's just so rewarding."

Paula Vigar of Marbletown is in her 12th year with RSVP. She does office work for the group, and makes sure that those who volunteer as drivers are up to date with their driver's license and insurance.

"I think it's wonderful," she said of the program. "You can get out of the house, and if you live alone, you're not home by yourself. You can get out among people, and have contact with people. They have all different stations to work at, and that's great for somebody that wants to get out and do something."

Both women said a big benefit of volunteering with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program is that they get to know people from all walks of life they might not otherwise meet.

It's a dynamic group, Canzian said. Members flow in and out of the group, dictated by seasonal residences, health issues, and other factors. New volunteer sites crop up all the time, and the group is perpetually active in pairing volunteers with the opportunity that best suits their skills, time constraints and personal interests.

"We serve three major hospitals, four libraries, we have five visitors centers, we have three museums, and eight elementary schools where we assist with tutoring programs," Canzian said. "I think we're one of the best-kept secrets around."

For more information about the program, call the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program at (845) 687-5274, or visit the group online at www.people.sunyulster.edu/rsvp.

RSVP Volunteer Program

BRC: One Development Court, Kingston, New York 12401 1.845.339.2025