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Shawnee County Extension reports VITA and Medicare counseling results, seeks volunteers
Summary
Shawnee County Extension presented its quarterly report: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites processed 2,094 returns and returned roughly $661,000 to residents; extension staff also detailed Medicare counseling savings and ongoing youth and nutrition programs and asked for volunteer recruitment.
Candace Stiles, Shawnee County extension director, and family and consumer sciences agent Adalie Tompkins presented the extension office’s quarterly report at the May 4 Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners work session.
Tompkins described Medicare counseling during open enrollment, saying counselors helped clients compare Part D options and reported a combined client savings figure of $63,782. "So it's a very rewarding program for me to see, like, oh, hey, you're gonna save $2,000 by switching to this plan without a premium, for example," Tompkins said.
The presentation also outlined the county’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) effort. Extension staff reported four local VITA sites processed 2,094 returns during the filing period, with about 30 volunteers supporting the program. Presenters said the client population’s average adjusted gross income was about $42,000 and that roughly 64% of VITA clients were seniors. The report summarized amounts returned to residents: presenters said roughly $531,000 in federal refunds and about $131,000 in state refunds were returned to participants, for a combined figure presenters described as approximately $661,000.
Stiles highlighted other extension programming, including a Walk Kansas eight-week program, Walk With Ease classes at the East Topeka Senior Center, in-school cooking and career-readiness lessons for middle-school students, a master-gardener regional training collaboration, and a youth entrepreneurship challenge that produced local winners advancing to the state contest. Stiles and Tompkins asked the board to help publicize volunteer opportunities: VITA volunteer training and mentor pairings will begin ahead of the next tax season.
The commissioners did not take any formal action on the report. Stiles left contact information and asked anyone interested in volunteering for VITA or extension programs to reach out to the extension office.
