Volunteers Betty George, Doris McLarin

For over 30 years, the senior volunteers of the St. Mary’s County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, under the sponsorship of The Department of Aging, have provided volunteer service to local nonprofit and public community organizations.

In 2007, more than 250 volunteers over the age of 55 gave in excess of 40,000 hours of service, including driving for meals on wheels, mentoring children and adults and serving at soup kitchens and food banks.

RSVP receives funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service and fromcounty commissioners. The program is committed to finding fulfilling volunteer opportunities for seniors, allowing them to donate time, talent, enthusiasm and expertise where needed in the local community.

The RSVP operation is a team effort involving close working relationships with all aspects of the local community. Though RSVP volunteer services continue to expand in the community, current requests exceed the number of volunteers. The program is always in need of committed and dedicated volunteers for all types of assignments.

“St. Mary’s County RSVP volunteers serve our community with tremendous dedication and enthusiasm,” said Jayne Hunsinger, RSVP project manager. “As we strengthen the role of service and volunteerism as a strategy to help our communities meet pressing challenges, we are extremely proud of our RSVP volunteers. Volunteers are

Volunteers work a table at the Department
 of Aging Health Fair.

a critical asset to maintaining livable communities that benefit us all. Without their assistance, we would not be able to provide services that are vital to the health and well being of our community.”

An essential part of the RSVP management is the Community Advisory Committee the purpose of which is to assist and advise the project manager. The CAC also sponsors local planning priorities to promote community support for the program and to appraise the program on an annual basis. One of the more visible functions of the committe is helping with the annual Volunteer Recognition Lunch held during National Volunteer Week.

“The Community Advisory Committee really is the eyes and ears of the program out in the community. They come back to us with the issues that are affecting the community on a daily basis and then work with us on strategies for how RSVP volunteers can be a part of the solution,” Hunsinger said.

Anyone 55 years or older can become an RSVP Volunteer and there. There are no restrictions to joining. For mo