By Michelle Rupe Eubanks
January 27, 2010
Dana Hamilton loves everything to do with numbers. As a senior accounting major at theUniversity of North Alabama, that comes in handy, especially as a volunteer for ImpactAlabama’s Save First initiative. It’s a program that helps low income families with their annual tax returns.
Already, Save First has 16 offices statewide, with locations from Decatur to Dothan.
This year, the organization has opened an office at Weeden Elementary School in Florence, to offer the service to Shoals residents.
Greg Carnes, an accounting and business law professor at UNA, helped coordinate the student volunteers for the program. He said more than 50 students have participated in the training and taken the test for IRS tax preparations.
I’m pleased with the turnout because it exceeded my expectations,” Carnes said. “(Being involved in Save First) provides them with experience from the professional perspective of getting used to dealing with clients, people and solving problems. It also provides excellent community service to people in the Shoals who get tax returns done for free, and if they qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, getting that full refund.”
The initiative was developed based on extensive investigations by representatives by ImpactAlabamainto the tax filing practices of some tax preparers. In its third year, estimates from the organization show that 2,600 families in just 12Alabamacounties secured more than $4.7 million in tax refunds, saving them more than $670,000 in commercial tax preparation fees.
Lindsay Kennemer and her brother, Jim, helped establish the program at Weeden, hanging fliers around the neighborhood, sending information home in kids’ backpacks and creating phone trees to let families know the service is available.
“Tuesday marked our first day open because we had a few computer and Internet glitches,” Lindsay Kennemer said. “But we’ve already been able to help some people.”
Hamiltonwas among those to help the initial visitors to the Save First office.
“She was a student, like me, and a mother of two, also like me, so I understood what she needed,”Hamiltonsaid. “I know every situation is going to be different, but it was good to have that person as my first. I got some practice with that.”
Roswell Richardson, also a senior at UNA, said the experience with helping others prepare their taxes was one reason he wanted to participate.
“I also wanted to be able to give back,” he said. “This is so relevant to what we’re going to be doing in the real world.”
Michelle Rupe Eubanks can be reached at 740-5745 or michelle.eubanks@TimesDaily.com.
