A hard copy of this newsletter was distributed to NARSVPD members in February 2006.  This newsletter was sponsored by C. Sanders, Volunteer Software, the Presidential Volunteer Service Awards and NARSVPD.

Fall Board Meeting Summary 

See website homepage for the fall NARSVPD Board meeting and annual membership meeting summary.

Website News!

GET INFORMATION FASTER AT WWW.NARSVPD.COM.  Members are encouraged to log on to the NARSVPD website to receive updated information. The website was given an upgrade over the summer months and members are able to find information with greater ease than ever before.

NARSVPD Membership to be Surveyed. 

Your opinion is important! The NARSVPD Strategic Planning Committee is seeking your input on various topics including re-competing grants, a national office, dues, and NARSVPD priorities.

In the near future, all members will receive an email from NARSVPD inviting you to participate in an online survey through www.surveymonkey.com. Please take a few minutes to respond to the survey. Your feedback is not only valuable to board members, but is critical to the success of NARSVPD.

Note:

Join NARSVPD for the spring Board meeting in June, held in Seattle in conjunction with the National Conference on Volunteering & Service. Contact your Delegate for more information.

Legislative Update

The January 2006 legislative update was included in this newsletter.  See the “Washington Advocate” section of the NARSVPD website for the most current legislative news.

RSVP Featured in Grand Magazine

GRAND Magazine, a bi-monthly magazine for Grandparents, will feature RSVP on its back cover.   This issue, GRAND’s February/March edition, leads with a “Volunteerism in America” theme and includes a Marc Freedman article and a second RSVP advertisement featuring Iowa RSVP volunteer, John McDonough.  Also featured, the top ten sexiest celebrity grandparents!

Recognition Products Keep Your Dues Low

NARSVPD members are encouraged to support vendors who provide quality products and valuable fundraising resources to NARSVPD. C. Sanders Emblems gives NARSVPD $.10 from every pin that is purchased by an RSVP project. You can order delicious, custom wrapped Sayklly’s candy bars with an order form on the NARSVPD website.  NARSVPD earns $.43 from every candy bar purchased.  Eldercrafts sells RSVP recognition and marketing products.  Operated by an RSVP Project located in New York, they can be reached at (315) 312-2317 or http://www.oswego.edu/other_campus/rsvp/. They have generously made a financial donation to NARSVPD for several years. Give them a call and ask that you be included on their mailing list for catalogs and samples.

Free PVSA Awards Still Available

PVSA awards are available to RSVP volunteers at no cost.  Visit the NARSVPD Website for latest ordering deadlines and more details.

WHCoA: Value of Older Volunteers

Since September 2004, a committee composed of representatives from the three national directors associations worked closely together and with NSSC staff at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to develop and present--at multiple nationwide White House Conference on Aging WHCoA) Listening and Solutions Sessions-- a draft Resolution which called for:

• Reauthorizing national service laws and doubling the number of Senior Corps volunteers by  2010;

• The revamping of service opportunities to include more time-limited, episodic and project-based service activities that will be attractive to Boomers;

• The coordination and diversification of volunteer opportunities;

• The development of a national campaign designed to dispel ageism and educate Americans about the skills possessed by our elders as well as about the health benefits that accrue to those who actively serve their communities.

As a result of the work of this joint committee and Program Directors who testified at WHCoA events in their local communities, the WHCoA Policy Committee included two resolutions focused on civic engagement in its list of 73 resolutions.  The two resolutions read as follows:

• #56 Develop a national strategy for promoting new, meaningful volunteer activities and civic engagement for older adults.

• #59 Reauthorize the National and Community Service Act to expand service opportunities.

Passage of Resolutions 56 and 59

In December, approximately 25 Program Directors/delegates worked together in Washington at the 2005 WHCoA in support of adoption of resolutions 56 and 59 by delegates. On the first two days of the Conference, the NSSC delegates--supported by “freebies” donated by CNCS, the three national NSSC directors associations, and GRAND Magazine, and aided by the hard work of CNCS staff and others in assembling and distributing all these materials to the 1200 delegates attending the conference)--were successful in accomplishing the passage of both Resolutions 56 and 59.  Both will be included in the “top 50” resolutions forwarded to Congress and the White House for implementation. Simultaneously CNCS launched the national Boomer recruitment campaign, www.getinvolved.gov.

Implementation Strategies

For the first time ever, WHCOA delegates participated in implementation sessions.  Your help will be solicited in meeting the following implementation goals:

• Reauthorize the Domestic Volunteer Service Act (DVSA) with the following provisions: double the total number of Senior Corps volunteers by 2010, expand RSVP program to every county in the nation, increase income eligibility cap for FG/SC programs from to 200% of national poverty level, lower eligibility age for FG/SC programs to 55.

• Create incentives by funding Silver Scholarships program, $1,000 tax-free, transferable education award for seniors.

• Establish a national commission to develop a blueprint for tapping Boomers and older adults as social capital. 

• Establish a fund for innovation to foster the growth of promising practices and program models.

Develop a national marketing and communication strategy to stimulate a new spirit of civic engagement.