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March 06, 2020

City Receives Grant Award To Oversee Northern & Southern Hills RSVP Organization

CITY RECEIVES GRANT AWARD TO OVERSEE

NORTHERN & SOUTHERN HILLS RSVP ORGANIZATION
$82,500 Yearly Grant Will Serve Eight West River Counties

RAPID CITY, SD--The Corporation for National and Community Service this week has awarded the City of Rapid City a federal grant to oversee the reinstatement and management of the Northern and Southern Hills Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).

            Black Hills State University RSVP relinquished its grant in September. The program had served an eight-county region including Butte, Custer, Haakon, Harding, Jackson, Lawrence, Meade and Perkins counties for many years.

            In September, the Rapid City Council authorized the City to apply for a federal grant to oversee the northern and southern hills program. The City has served as the community sponsor for the Black Hills RSVP+ organization for more than 35 years.  The Black Hills RSVP+ organization has more than 500 volunteers, donating more than 10,000 hours of community service each month to the Rapid City, Hot Springs, Hill City, Keystone, New Underwood and Wall areas.  Many of the volunteers have been providing service for RSVP+ for decades.

            Ann Hines, manager of the Black Hills RSVP+ organization, will also manage the Northern and Southern Hills RSVP organization.  The City of Rapid City will oversee both programs, which will be operated independently.

            "Black Hills State ran a solid program for many years serving several communities and counties with hundreds of volunteers," said Hines. "It has been dormant since September so I look forward to getting the program started again and that the volunteers continue to provide their time and talents to the supporting organizations."

            Funding will be released to the City of Rapid City around April 1 and Hines plans to set up planning meetings and organize volunteers.

            "With this award, RSVP will be serving dozens of communities and a good portion of West River," said Dave Yuhas of the City's Finance Department, which will oversee the grant. "This is a great opportunity to bring together the cities and counties and the many organizations that will benefit from the efforts, experiences and skills of hundreds of volunteers."

            The Retired Senior Volunteer Program is a federally-funded program through the Corporation of National Service and provides opportunities for adults age 55 and over to share their life experiences and skills in their community.  Examples include teaching children or adults to read, mentoring children, delivering meals to home-bound seniors and providing assistance to local nonprofit organizations.  The (+) part in the titles of some RSVP organizations allows citizens of all ages to share in the volunteer experience.

            For more information about the Northern and Southern Hills RSVP organization, contact Hines at 394-2507.

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Thank you,

Darrell W. Shoemaker | Communications Coordinator

T: 605.721.6686 | M: 605.939.8551

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W: www.rcgov.org

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