The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) of Family Service of Cincinnati will be expanded after getting a $78,000 grant from the National Senior Service Corps.

        The agency will use the grant to help people 55 and older to volunteer in their communities.

        Family service will contact more than 300 volunteers already in the program and the sites where they have been serving.

        “All RSVP volunteers will be contacted to let them know how valuable they are to helping us expand the reach of the program,” said Arlene Herman, Family Service president.

        She said volunteers can make a difference in people's lives, add value to the organization's programs and personally gain from the experience.

        Volunteers work in schools with children, in recreation and retirement centers and help police and fire departments.

        Some senior volunteers work as many as 40 hours a week, providing services to public and non-profit organizations in Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

        Volunteers must be 55 or older, be willing to serve on a regular basis and live in or near the community served.

        The National Senior Service Corps operates the Foster Grandparent program, which links senior volunteers to children who need their help, the Senior Companion Program, which places its volunteers with adults needing extra assistance, and the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program.

        “The RSVP program had been operated by the Cincinnati Area Senior Services for the past eight years,” said Jeff Wiesemann, public relations director for Family Services of the Cincinnati Area.

        The non-profit social service agency serves 34,000 clients in Clermont and Hamilton counties in Ohio and Boone,Kenton and Campbell counties in Northern Kentucky.

        It offers mental health counseling, school-based services such as sex abuse, substance abuse and domestic violence treatment; parent and life skills education, and its Friends of the Children program.

        To volunteer or request services of volunteers, call program director Pat Seuberling at 921-6300 or e-mail her at PSeuberling@fsmail.org.

       • • •

        Grandparents will gather for a Mass with students at the first Grandparents' Day at 10 a.m., March 17 at McAuley High School, 6000 Oakwood Ave., College Hill.

        The grandparents will also join the students at a brunch in the school cafeteria.

        Kathy Dietrick, public relations director at the school, said 325 grandparents have said they will come.

        The school is sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, a religious order founded by Catherine McAuley, in Dublin, Ireland in 1831. In keeping with the Irish heritage, the Special Grandparents Day is set for St. Patrick's Day.

       Allen Howard's “Some Good News” column runs Sunday-Friday. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, at ahoward@enquirer.com or by fax at 768-8340.

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