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RSVP expands pen pal program and hopes for continued funding
With the expansion, RSVP is seeking additional volunteers to exchange letters with students throughout the school year, despite concern for funding
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MT. PLEASANT — A handwritten letter still has the power to connect people across generations. For Henry County’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), that connection is at the heart of its growing Pen Pal initiative — and program director Lindsey Ford says more volunteers are needed now.
Ford explained that RSVP is an AmeriCorps Seniors program that has been in Henry County since 1989. Sponsored locally by The Fellowship Cup, RSVP helps people 55 and older give their time and talents to the community through a wide range of volunteer opportunities.
Those opportunities include partnerships with organizations like Milestone AAA, Henry County Conservation, EveryStep Hospice, Henry County Heritage Trust, and The Fellowship Cup’s food pantry. RSVP also runs a well-known medical transportation program, providing rides for seniors and disabled residents to appointments as far away as Iowa City and Fairfield.
“I try not to ever turn anybody down if I don’t have to on the medical transportation program, but I am somewhat limited, because our drivers are all volunteers,” Ford said. “That’s probably the one that we are the best known for in Henry County, because we advertise about it a lot.”
In recent years, RSVP has added its Pen Pal program, which pairs older volunteers with fourth-grade students across the county. What started in Mt. Pleasant schools has since expanded to New London and Winfield-Mt. Union, with hopes to include WACO this year.
“The thing about the program is it’s kind of genius, because it’s not a huge time commitment. It’s an opportunity to volunteer from the comfort of your home for the most part,” Ford said.
Letters are usually one to two pages, exchanged monthly during the school year, and capped off with a spring meet-and-greet party where students and volunteers meet in person.
“It is this amazing program that just fosters intergenerational relationships,” Ford said. “Some kids don’t have grandparents in the picture. And it also is this program that’s helping these students improve their writing skills, helping them learn to appropriately address an envelope, because obviously we’ve gotten away from that.”
Volunteers often find unexpected joy in the program. One man, initially reluctant to sign up, developed a friendship not only with his student pen pal but also with the child’s parents.
“Often I get these volunteers coming into my office just saying how wonderful it is,” Ford said. “At the meet and greet, the room literally lights up. They’re talking like they’ve been best friends for such a long time.”
But Ford worries about the future. As an AmeriCorps Seniors program, RSVP depends on federal grant funding, and this year that funding picture is uncertain.
“One of the things that we are concerned about is what will happen to this programming should we lose our federal funding,” Ford said. “Our grant year ends March 31, and right now we have not even received our information for next year’s grants. Normally they would be due Sept. 30, so it’s a little bit alarming — not just a little bit, it’s a lot of alarming.”
Ford said The Fellowship Cup has already begun discussions about how to keep programs afloat if funding lags or disappears.
“We’re doing our best to kind of prepare for that and be able to at least continue somewhat beyond the March 31 date, especially for the Pen Pal program because obviously it wouldn’t be done until the end of the school year in May,” she said.
She hopes community members will not only volunteer but also advocate for AmeriCorps programs.
“This program is doing amazing things for Henry County,” Ford said. “We want to expand our programming, we want to do more for Henry County, but right now we’re somewhat strapped with what I have the time to do, and financially, what I have the finances to do. Losing our funding could potentially mean losing some of our programming.”
Henry County residents 55 or older who want to become pen pals or explore other RSVP opportunities can contact Ford directly at rsvp@thefellowshipcup.org, call the RSVP office at 319-385-3242, or call Ford’s cellphone at 319-201-6334.
Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com
