Celebrating GSO’s Volunteers

Each year, we celebrate our amazing volunteers as part of National Volunteer Appreciation Week, which this year runs from April 21 to April 27. There is so much to celebrate, including our amazing volunteers at our Tacos and Taxes events and our texting volunteers.

Our 75 volunteers dedicated 130 hours of their time to sending two million texts promoting the CalEITC and other tax credits and resources this tax season.

For Aida Recinos Ibarra, one of the peer-to-peer texting volunteers, she felt good about informing others of the CalEITC and similar tax credits.

She said, “I volunteered because I wanted to give back to a cause that’s near to me as well as do something that I know would help others. I also volunteered because I had no idea what the CalEITC was before my friend told me about it and I filed for it when I did my taxes. I believe that this tax credit no matter how big or small can definitely be useful towards bills, or even just to have extra money in your pocket. My favorite part of volunteering was how helpful everyone was, and how easy it was to get the hang of it. The environment was also very welcoming.”

Other volunteers were indispensable in helping with GSO’s signature Tacos and Taxes events. As part of outreach through CalEITC4Me, GSO organized 20 free tax preparation events across the state and collected stories from real taxpayers with the help of volunteers like Brandon Serna.

“My favorite part of volunteering with GSO was connecting with those individuals in my community,” said Serna. “Talking about taxes with them helped me understand how important these events are. It was great to see their smiles not only because of the free tax sessions but also for the free tacos to celebrate.”

Regardless of the activity, we could not meet our goals of reaching low-income Californians with information about tax credits without our valued volunteers. So, whether you texted reminders to file your taxes or worked with a Community Connect partner to file taxes through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, we thank you!

Learn more about our volunteer work and how to get involved.