The Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation has awarded United Way Suncoast’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program a grant of $60,000 for program growth in Sarasota County. The grant will help support a dedicated VITA Program Coordinator for Sarasota County, a position that is critical to increasing the number of individuals served through this program. In addition, United Way Suncoast will expand program marketing during tax season, technology upgrades and additional training for volunteers. This past tax season, Suncoast’s VITA program in Sarasota grew eight percent over the prior year, despite VITA programs across the country experiencing a decline overall. In this past tax season, the United Way Suncoast VITA Program in Sarasota/DeSoto prepared and filed 1,924 tax returns for members of the community. Consumers who visited United Way Suncoast VITA sites saved, on average, $200 in simple tax preparation fees. When multiplying that by the 1,924 tax returns that volunteers prepared, the result is an estimate of more than $384,000 in preparation fee savings, adding further value to the overall economic impact that VITA has on residents.

United Way Suncoast