Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)

Since 1973, Shawnee Development Council, Inc. has been the local sponsor of RSVP of the Peninsula which serves the seven southernmost counties of  Illinois and receives funding by the National Senior Service Corporation, Illinois Department of Aging, and local county contributors.  RSVP is part of a nation -wide program dedicated to providing volunteer opportunities for all older persons who wish to serve their communitiy. 

What is the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program?

The purpose of RSVP is to provide a variety of opportunities for retired persons aged 55 or older to participate more fully in the life of their community through significant volunteer service - RSVP Mission Statement

Volunteers come from many backgrounds with no restrictions based upon income, education, experience, handicap, race, religion, or sex.  Are you in search of an opportunity to be useful, needed, and appreciated?  Are you willing to share the benefits of your experience?  Are you willing to record your hours and turn them into the RSVP Representative?  If so, you may join your friends and neighbors in making our world a better place by becoming an RSVP Volunteer.  Contact the RSVP Office and find out more.

WHERE DO RSVP SENIORS VOLUNTEER?

Food Banks & Pantries/Thrift Shops/Homeless Shelters/Libraries/Museums/Historical Societies/Parks/Red Cross/ Cancer Society/Hospitals/Nursing Homes/Senior Citizens Centers/Congregate & Home Delivered Meal Programs/Arts & Crafts/Girl & Boy Scouts/Schools/Day Care Centers/Preschools/Community Assistance & Development Programs/Public & Non-Profit Organizations and MANY, MANY MORE!

SPECIAL PROGRAMS & BENEFITS

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program hosts an annual recognition each year honoring volunteers for their service to their community and assuring them their assistance to the communities and residents in the seven counties are making a difference in the in the quality of life for all ages.  At the annual recognition a RSVP “Really Special Volunteer Person(s)” Award is presented to seven individuals or couples (one from each county), a person who is over age ninety and is still volunteering is chosen to receive the RSVP “Seasoned Volunteer of the Year” Award, and a volunteer station is chosen to receive the RSVP “Station of the Year” Award.

Through a special grant awarded to the RSVP program, those residents who live in a rural area or community which has no weather warning siren, have access to a NOAA Early Warning Weather Radio to be place in their home FREE OF CHARGE (age and income is NOT a factor).  The only requirement is the person who receives a radio must designate five persons/families they will contact if a “take shelter” warning is issued via the radio. 

Click here to download the RSVP Weather Radio & Volunteer Registration form in pdf format.  Complete and mail the form to the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Shawnee Development Council, Inc., PO Box 298, Karnak, Il 62956-0298.  For more information you may call 618-634-2201 and ask for RSVP.