Michael McCormick
RSVP Northern Virginia volunteer Michael McCormick decided it was time “to give back.”
Shortly after McCormick moved to Arlington from New York five years ago he lost his wife.
McCormick says it was his wife that influenced him to go into volunteer work. He recalls “she was always telling me ‘successful people have an obligation to give back.’”
So McCormick signed up to be an RSVP Northern Virginia Volunteer and funneled his more than 30 years of experience with the Internal Revenue Service into helping others prepare their taxes through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) CASH program at Fairfax SkillSource Center in Annandale.
With the help of some 300 volunteers like McCormick, low-income families throughout Northern Virginia received over $10.7 million in refunds last tax season, according to the (VITA) CASH program’s website. VITA volunteers are needed to help at centers across Northern Virginia.
RSVP Northern Virginia will be holding a general orientation meeting on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 1:30 p.m. at the Arlington Central Library 1015 N Quincy St., Arlington.
During tax season McCormick volunteers with VITA three evenings a week and a full day on Saturdays.
He says he likes volunteering with RSVP because it is a structured program. He also gets “internal satisfaction” thru his volunteer work. Volunteering makes him feel more part of the community, he says.
RSVP, the country’s largest volunteer network for people 55-years or older, provides individualized support to connect volunteers with service opportunities in and around Arlington County, Fairfax County and the City of Alexandria that complement volunteers’ interests and skills.
RSVP offers an array of opportunities for volunteers including providing rides, support and meals to older neighbors, assisting local veterans in need and helping prepare communities for disasters. In addition to his VITA work, McCormick was a volunteer guide for the National Park Service at the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, better known as the Iwo Jima Memorial.
For more information, visit www.rsvpnova.org.