Stetson’s VITA Program Celebrates $1.5M in Tax Refunds

Cory Lancaster February 23, 2018
A group shot around a large cake
Group shot with the five of them standing in front of a green and white sheetcake and a Stetson banner behind them.
Celebrating the VITA program milestone are, from left to right: Courtney Edgcomb, vice president for Community Impact, United Way; Valrie Chambers, Ph.D., interim chair, M. E. Rinker, Sr. Institute of Tax and Accountancy and associate professor of accounting; Bonnie Holloway, site coordinator, Stetson VITA Program and visiting lecturer in accounting; Neal P. Mero, Ph.D., dean, School of Business Administration and professor of management; and Ian Anderson, Stetson VITA student and senior from Naples, Florida.

Stetson University School of Business Administration hosted a celebratory event on Tuesday to commemorate the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program securing $1.5 million in tax refunds for local families over the past eight years. Co-sponsored by the United Way of Volusia-Flagler counties, Stetson’s M.E. Rinker, Sr. Institute of Tax and Accountancy and Stetson’s Center for Community Engagement, the VITA program’s volunteers helped file more than 1,500 tax returns, at no charge, for low-income families in the community.

“This program is vital to low-income families in our community because it helps them receive their refund quickly and allows them to keep every hard-earned dollar, some of which would otherwise be spent on tax preparation and filing,” said Valrie Chambers, Ph.D., CPA, associate professor of taxation and accounting at Stetson.

-Marie Dinklage