EBALDC runs one of the largest Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs in the East Bay, and this year we're delighted to announce that by working with 105 volunteers, we prepared taxes for 1,190 low income families that received a total of over $1.7M in refunds! It is estimated that 80% of those refunds are spent locally, bringing a boost the local economy.

There are dozens of VITA sites in the Bay Area, and their work is so important to reach more families each year. The EBALDC VITA program maximizes its impact on local communities by making it a gateway for other community benefits. For example, we utilized a special strategy to promote saving during tax time, part of which involved the help of Danny Glover in a video.  Basically, we made it extremely convenient for our tax clients to make the decision to save some or all of their refund during their tax appointments. In total, we helped 45 families put $32,000 of their refunds into new or existing savings accounts for emergencies, education, or retirement.

This year, EBALDC’s VITA program was one of 12 nationwide – the only one in California – selected by the IRS to help small business owners file their Schedule C’s, and we served 115 small business clients. It’s a tough time to run your own business, so it’s great that we were able to save them the headache and the few hundred dollars that they would have had to pay for the service.

You can hear more about our VITA program and talk to some of our clients and partners at the upcoming appreciation event we’re having for the volunteers who contributed over 1700 hours of service to make all of this possible. Two of our small business clients will be catering the event: local entrepreneurs Zeta and Oscar Montero  of Montero’s Catering (Mexican and Italian food) and Natasha Kuczynska of What the Cake?.

The EBALDC VITA program is sponsored by MetLife Foundation and Earnit! Keepit! Saveit! of the United Way of the Bay Area.

EBALDC VITA Volunteer Appreciation: Friday, April 29th, 6-8pm at One PacificCoast Bank, 1438 Webster St in Downtown Oakland. The event is free with RSVP: http://ebaldcvita2011.eventbrite.com