CITF is at forefront of volunteering
Iola Mayor Bill Shirley declared April 21-27 as Volunteer Week during Monday night’s city council meeting. ON THE heels of Mayor Shirley’s proclamation, CITF members are working to organize a community picnic to honor different volunteer organizations in Iola.
The decision arose from a suggestion made by one of Iola’s most active volunteer organizations, the Community Involvement Task Force (CITF/Pride).
When the group was organized in 2005, members met to compile a list of various improvements they thought needed to be made. At meeting’s end, they had around 60 items.
“Our goal is to bring back Iola,” CITF member Beth Ann Turner said. She, along with members Jim Smith and Mike Ford, stopped by The Register to explain CITF accomplishments, and what they plan to do in the future.
“I just do it to keep busy and help the community,” Smith said. “Busy” is a word used modestly in this case.
Over the past eight years members have done everything from renovating houses, painting the town square, creating a promotional video for Iola and garnering over $800,000 in grants for infrastructure in the city.
But, Ford said there is always a need for people in the community to volunteer.
“We are always looking for people to help out,” he said.
Approximately 15 or 16 people are currently involved with the group. Adequate funds always seems to hold back their dreams.
“There are so many things we want to do that require money,” Ford said.
“It’s always a problem,” Smith interjected with a smirk.
It has been worse in the past, before the group stepped in to help the community.
According to census numbers gathered at the start of the millenium, the city of Iola did not meet the criteria to apply for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The criteria stipulated that 51 percent of the community must be under the poverty line. Members of CITF knew the state of Iola’s economy, and that it met the criteria — the census numbers were inaccurate.
That is when the volunteer group went into action for the first time in 2006. Members went door-to-door with surveys to gather accurate information that represented the local economy, and they succeeded. Information reflected that Iola was well within the criteria to apply for the grants, and that is just what they did.
Ever since, fueled by donations and grants, CITF has been active behind the scenes in “bringing Iola back.”
The event is tentatively scheduled for May 19 at Riverside Park. Leading up to the community picnic, The Register will be highlighting different groups weekly that are actively volunteering in the community. While the list of volunteer organizations may be too long to delve into everyone’s efforts, different features will put these hard-working and often underappreciated volunteers someplace they never asked to be — on the front page.
