Invest in Kids now for a Better Future

Gary Hinzman
The Gazette

This year our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program prepared over 1300 returns, keeping intact our record of always doing more returns than the year before.  The returns produced about $2,000,000 in refunds and, we estimate, saved taxpayers over $150,000 in tax preparation fees.

Visit our web site if you’d like us to do your return next year, or (better yet) if you’d like to volunteer.

Nathaniel Otjen

Green Iowa is a state program that is made up of AmeriCorps State members which primarily focuses on energy efficiency and conservation. The services they perform are home energy audits and weatherizations for the residents of Linn County.

Alyssa Anderson, the Marketing Coordinator for Green Iowa said, “Our organization [Green Iowa] was founded in 2008 to address conservation and sustainable usage of energy resources in several Iowa communities as they struggled to rebuild from the devastating summer floods.”

She continued, “The first Green Iowa sites, Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls, were opened in February of 2009. Since then, we have expanded into opening two additional member sites- Decorah and Dubuque. Our sites serve the counties they are located in (Linn, Dubuque, Black Hawk, and Winneshiek); however, it is not unusual for our member sites to occasionally work outside of the counties we are located in. As of right now, we only serve the Northeastern Iowa Corridor, but we are looking at expanding across the state.”

“Green Iowa is still fairly new- it appears that every term we have a different number of part time and full time members and the designated work changes. This term we have seven full time members,” Anderson said.

“All of our members participate in energy audits and weatherizations. We aim to be in the community twice a week with two energy audits and
weatherizations a day.”

She continued, “When we [Green Iowa] are not weatherizing, we are often working in the community and supporting organizations that promote energy efficiency. On a typical Wednesday you can find our team volunteering at Indian Creek Nature Center, Prairiewoods, Ushers Ferry, or the Restore. We also go into schools to initiate educational programs regarding energy efficiency, recycling and environmental stewardship.”

Green Iowa has a large involvement in the Cedar Rapids area. They have weatherized and performed energy audits for about fifty households so far in this service term. They also started an environmental club at McKinley middle school.

Green Iowa has also started landfill diversion programs. Anderson said, “Previous terms invented a program called Trash Talkers. The concept is simple, but the work impactful. Trash Talkers appear at community events and instruct attendees where to throw their trash- into recycling, compost, or a landfill.”

This year Green Iowa is scheduled for the Downtown Farmer’s Markets and are working out details to appear at Eco Fest, the Marion Arts Festival, and they want to help with recycling for Ragbrai.”

Green Iowa has assisted in maintaining community gardens also. They also will be around to help the City of Cedar Rapids’ One Bag Campaign on March 17^th- designed to persuade every Cedar Rapids citizen to pick up one bag of litter. Green Iowa is also assisting with the Eco Fest and will be hosting their own Earth Week this year.

Anderson spoke about this year’s Earth Week, “Our organization is focused on energy efficiency, which often underlines the promotion of environmental stewardships. The idea of hosting an Earth Week came from a desire to go above and beyond in celebrating Earth Day, on April 22.”

For Earth Week, Green Iowa has many different events planned. On Saturday, April 21, they will be helping with the Eco Fest and hosting a vendor table. They also plan on helping with the Fun Run Trash Pickup.

For the rest of the week, Green Iowa will be hosting several other events. They will be assisting with the One Bag Litter Clean Up and they will
be hosting a compost and methane diversion program at the Indian Creek Pot Luck Event. They will also be working at Ushers Ferry doing garden cleanup and trail maintenance and they will be volunteering with the Solid Waste Agency in addition to working with the Prairie Woods Recycled Art and Bonfire Event.

Anderson said, “The services we perform are donation based. We don’t charge for the materials or the labor. We are assisting Linn county residents on two levels, the individual and the community. By making a home more energy efficient we are helping to lower the month utility bills which often can be financially burdensome. All residents can receive these services.”

“This coincides with helping the community as a whole by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and building a more energy-independent state. Our
educational and community services support our mission by helping citizens become more knowledgeable on how they can reduce their energy dependency,” said Anderson.

Nathaniel Otjen

Travis Hess is an AmeriCorps*VISTA member who volunteers at Mount Mercy University as the Sustainability Coordinator there.

“On a daily basis I research and write professional communication, provide environmental, social, and process analysis on sustainability efforts as well as engage students with programs and events geared toward ecological/sustainability education,” said Hess.

He continued, “More of my work is planning, organizing, developing student leaders and other capacity building efforts. These efforts help the
students, faculty and staff here develop an understanding and ability for engagement with issues the social, environmental, economic and personal implications of the need for a more sustainable way of life.”

Hess has participated in several projects at Mount Mercy University. “The first major project I completed this term is acting as a primary
researcher and writer on a Climate Action Plan for Mount Mercy University. This Climate Action Plan works as a guiding framework and document for Mount Mercy University to transition to carbon neutral status. I have begun to help form a network of sustainability staff and faculty of our Corridor area that generates resource, information and practice sharing and cooperation among this area’s colleges,” said Hess.

He added, “Another project is helping advise the Sustainability Living Learning Community. Also, Mount Mercy is currently participating in
Recyclemania, which is a friendly college recycling competition. Out of 600+ schools, Mount Mercy is currently ranked in 35^th place.”

“I enjoy this job very much! I feel this is very gratifying as well as intrinsically meaningful work; the Mount Mercy University faculty and staff I
interact with are friendly as well as provide a model for effective and efficient professional work styles,” Hess said.

He concluded, “I am very grateful for the VISTA term, this service term has helped me develop professionally and personally in many ways that I both did and did not expect.”