Page 3 - Rolling Stone May 2016

Page 3
May, 2016
Thank You for Another
Successful Tax Season
By Betsy Vittinghoff
We are celebrating the completion of another successful tax season at the SRC. First of all, we would like to thank all of our clients who entrusted us with the job of preparing your 2015 taxes. It was our pleasure to serve you and we hope we made the process easier for you.
Our Tax Aide volunteers prepared over 1000 returns, served over 1350 clients, and gave over 2500 hours of volunteer serv- ice! Our thanks go out to our tax counselors: Shirley Bottino, Connie Cornelius, Vince Diamond, Karen Goeke, Clara and Vada Jacobs, Dick Merrell, Jeff Richardson, Ted Rinehart, Paul Shetty, and Mike Smith for their knowledge and dedication. We also appreciated the help of our “sorters”: Judy Flickinger, Linda Heiler, Rick Hribal, and Margaret Richardson who cheerfully greeted the taxpayers, put their paperwork in order, and gen- erally smoothed the way for the counselors. Fern Laskye was the voice behind the appointment reminder calls that helped us avoid missed appointments. We were grateful for her help. Finally, recognition goes to our “senior” team member, Ed Waters for ensuring the returns were electronically filed accu- rately and in a timely manner. This was Ed’s fifteenth year with the Tax Aide Program!
Many thanks to the entire Senior Resource Center staff for providing us with the facilities and support to keep the AARP Foundation Tax Aide program available to the seniors of Stephenson and Jo Daviess counties. We received many favor- able comments from our clients about both the facilities and the location.
Next tax year will present us with many new challenges as the IRS implements a change in the computer program we use to prepare your taxes. Our counselors will all have to undergo training in the new system as well as the usual edu- cation required for preparing returns – another big commit- ment on their part. Because of this change by the IRS, we will REQUIRE all taxpayers to have their Social Security cards with them at their appointments. So plan ahead if you don’t have your card or can’t find it by going to the Social Security Administration offices in Freeport and requesting a replace- ment card. We will be reminding you of this several times before the opening of the TY2016 appointments.
Last, but not least, we are always in need of additional volun- teers. If you enjoy working with numbers, are detail oriented, computer proficient, and like people, consider joining our team. We would like to be able to offer our services in other locations but cannot without new volunteers. Training is pro- vided, usually in January, and our site is open from February through mid April. If you are interested, please call the SRC at 815-235-9777 and leave your name and a return number.
Powerful Tools for Caregiving
Taking care of you... a six week program for those who are caregivers for adults
Wednesdays, beginning May, 11th 1:00-3:30 p.m.
Jo Daviess Senior Resource Center | 500 Fillmore St. • Hanover, IL. 61041
In the six weekly classes, caregivers develop a wealth of self-care tools to:
• Reduce personal stress
• Change negative self-talk
• Communicate their needs to family members and health- care or service providers
• Communicate more effectively in challenging situations
• Recognize the messages in their emotions, deal with diffi- cult feelings; and make tough caregiving decisions
• Class participants also receive a copy of The Caregiver Helpbook, developed specifically for the class
To register call 815-777-1316. There is no charge for this class
Sponsored by: Senior Resource Center | Northwest Illinois Volunteer Hospice
Everyone had a fun time painting a beach scene at the SRC in April. Barry Treu, Director of Education from the Freeport Art Museum guided us as we learned how to paint. Watch the Rolling Stone for our next class.