Thanks for coming here to learn more about the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance  program at the Burroughs Community Center. 

Burroughs has been offering the VITA program to the greater Bridgeport community for 6 years.  During that time volunteers have completed more than 1,700 returns for families struggling to make ends meet. 

At Burroughs a team of dedicated volunteers, trained by the IRS, complete income tax returns at no charge.  Just our doing their taxes for free saves the family from paying to have it done.  Many families try to file themselves or have a friend do it for them.  Most times they aren't up on all the tax laws and miss things like Earned Income Tax Credits and Child Care Credits and don't receive the refund they deserve.  Through the Burroughs VITA program they receive everything they are entitled to ~ for free!

In order for the program to continue to impact even more than the 501 families we worked with from January to April 2009 we need new laptop computers.  The old donated laptops we use no longer interface well enough with the tax software.  With new laptops we can have more volunteers working each shift and could serve as many as 600 families in 2010 ~ if you do the math, the amount we need to raise comes out to $17 per return.  With each return averaging about $1,800 coming back to the family it is a terrific return on the investment. 

We know times are tough but we hope you can help us.  Can you sponsor one return for $17?  Three for $51?  Ten for $170?  Every little bit helps and gets us closer to having the current technology we need to keep this program running smoothly to help these families. 

Thanks for your help!

The Burroughs VITA Volunteer Team

Want to join our VITA team?  Visit http://www.burroughscc.org/ to find out how!

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support our fundraising efforts.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!