by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
The Retired Senior Volunteer Program has asked the city of Sartell for at least $3,600 for mileage reimbursement for some of the low-income Sartell volunteer members of the program.
The city will review the request during its budgeting process.
Lisa Braun, director of the St. Cloud-based program, made the request at the Sept. 9 Sartell City Council meeting.
Braun said there are 85 senior volunteers who live in Sartell and who provide more than 10,000 hours of service to 12 needs in the city – for example, work in schools (public and parochial), city services, Country Manor, Meals on Wheels. Those people were given modest amounts of mileage reimbursement and a total of $370 to help support their supplemental insurance. Not all of the volunteers needed or applied for the mileage reimbursement. This year, the reimbursement had to be discontinued because of a lack of funding, she noted. RSVP paid out $3,200 for mileage last year. Since the cut this year, nine of the Sartell volunteers – low-income people – dropped out, saying they were disappointed at the lack of mileage help, as modest as the amounts were.
Before 2012, the city of Sartell provided an annual amount of $9,536 to RSVP, Braun said. After state-aid cuts were implemented years later, that amount was reduced by the city to $4,768, and full funding was never restored. This year, there was no funding from Sartell, Braun said.
The total cost to operate the program’s services in Sartell is $27,474 before a state and federal reimbursement amount is granted to RSVP, an amount of $9,500.
Headquartered at the Whitney Senior Center in St. Cloud, RSVP began in 1973 as part of the 1965 Federal Older Americans Act. Its funding sources are the Corporation for National and Community Service, area donations and in-kind support, Minnesota Board on Aging, St. Joseph Township, Sherburne County Area United Way and United Way of Central Minnesota. RSVP volunteers serve the cities of Sartell, St. Joseph, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park and St. Cloud.
