Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Volunteer Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
RSVP director asks Winnebago County for $8,000 local match to keep reading programs operating
Summary
Allison Mason, director of RSVP, asked the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors for an $8,000 local match for fiscal year 2026 to maintain volunteer-based reading and community support programs that rely on state and federal funding.
Allison Mason, director of the RSVP volunteer program, asked the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors for $8,000 in local match funding for fiscal year 2026 to sustain volunteer programs that support reading and basic needs in the county.
Mason told supervisors the RSVP program served 1,013 students across six counties this year and that Winnebago County’s portion included 18 classrooms and 118 students in three school districts: Lake Mills, Buffalo Center and Forest City. She said volunteers provide reading buddies for preschool through fifth grade, a reading coach program for middle school students and a pen pal program primarily for fourth graders.
“We continue to work diligently to grow our impact,” Mason said. She described additional volunteer activities in Winnebago County, including support for NIACC’s student food pantry and outreach with Elderbridge Agency on Aging to check in on residents who are homebound.
Mason told the board that 86% of students who participated last school year improved their reading scores and 92% reported a better attitude toward reading. She said local match funding remains a requirement for the program to secure federal and state funds that underwrite RSVP operations.
Board members asked follow-up questions about the pantry and volunteer counts. Mason said the NIACC pantry serves the campus community without ID checks, averages roughly 250 visits per month and occasionally serves household groups of up to six people. She also described that RSVP currently reports 50 volunteers in the program she described (and indicated a larger multi-county volunteer total of several hundred across the consortium).
Mason concluded by restating the $8,000 local match request for fiscal 2026 and asking if supervisors had questions about how the local funds would be used. No vote on the request was recorded in the transcript during this item.
If the board approves the requested local match, Mason said the county contribution would be used as the required local share to keep the program eligible for the larger state and federal grants that support volunteer placements and program administration.
Mason thanked the board for its partnership and left the meeting after questions.
