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   from the issue of January 25, 2007

     
 
Partnership offers tax assistance for low-income families

 BY SARA PIPHER, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Filing income taxes will be a little less stressful this year for low-income Lincoln families.

Students, faculty and staff will offer tax preparation assistance for families as part of a service-learning project designed to impact local poverty. In partnership with the Center for People in Need, the Human Services Federation and the Internal Revenue Service, UNL will create tax preparation "super centers" in the Nebraska and East unions for 12 nights in January and February.

The centers will allow families to seek tax help and information on other social services in Lincoln. Volunteers from UNL's Advantage Program will provide childcare at both sites.

"An important aspect of a partnership is mutual benefit, and part of service learning is reciprocity, and this project accomplishes both," said Linda Moody, assistant director of Student Involvement. "Very few low income families seek tax preparation help, so this was one way UNL could be a partner in the community and tap into our resources across the disciplines. Advertising students are creating concepts for how to get the word out to these families. Business and accounting majors are signing up to gain real world experience.

"We're engaging students, and making the curriculum come alive, and at the same time, we're helping with a community need."

The Office of Student Involvement's Service-Learning/Volunteer Services unit has recruited 55 volunteers from across campus to become certified tax assistants through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Their main goal will be identifying families that might qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit,

According to the IRS, Lincoln families received nearly $3.5 million in tax refunds from the EITC program in 2005. UNL and its partners hope that by creating the super center, more families will receive EITC benefits in 2006.

"We're excited to see UNL playing a major role in this initiative," said Beatty Brasch, founder of the Center for People in Need. "Their involvement can help us reach many more families here in Lincoln who deserve EITC refunds and other services but don't know that they qualify."

The East Campus center will be open evenings from Jan. 29 through Feb. 3. The City Campus center will open on Feb. 19.

For more information or to volunteer, go online to http://involved.unl.edu/eitc.


GO TO: ISSUE OF JANUARY 25

NEWS HEADLINES FOR JANUARY 25

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Gallup, UNL form D.C.-based program
Water leaks flood Oldfather Hall, Hewit Place
African-American leaders summit Jan. 26
Enron whistleblower to speak Feb. 12 at Lied Center
Gene-silencing work may help fight viral, other diseases
Paper focuses on role of cysteines in proteins
Partnership offers tax assistance for low-income families
Regents propose 280-hour vacation time cap

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