In October 2002, Volunteer Frederick received one of only 10 grants awarded nationwide to sponsor and operate an RSVP project to engage Frederick County retirees in volunteer service to strengthen homeland security efforts. Even though homeland security remains a major emphasis of the project, we have been given permission to expand the focus of RSVP to include high impact assignments addressing community needs in education, the environment, arts and culture, civic engagement, as well as helping people remain independent in the community. We find that older volunteers, in addition to developing strong loyalties to the hospitals, schools and community agencies where they serve, are also proud to be counted as part of the nationwide RSVP network of older adults giving valuable service to their communities. The RSVP office is located at Volunteer Frederick at 31 W. Patrick St., Suite L2, Frederick, MD 21701.

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) is an outgrowth of efforts by private groups, gerontologists and government agencies over the past 4 decades to address the needs of older adults in America. The White House Conference on Aging in 1961 called attention to the needs of older people for useful activity. One of the outcomes of the conference was the passage of the Older Americans Act of 1965. In the same year, the Community Service Society of New York launched a pilot project on Staten Island, NY, which involved a small group of older adults in volunteer service to their communities. It was called SERVE (Serve and Enrich Retirement by Volunteer Experience). The success of this program, which demonstrated beyond a doubt the value of the services of older volunteers, lead to an amendment to the Older Americans Act, creating the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program in 1969. RSVP was launched in 1971 under the auspices of the Administration on Aging (AOA). In July of that year, RSVP was transferred from AOA to ACTION, the federal domestic volunteer agency. Eleven projects were started that summer. The period of greatest growth for RSVP occurred during the years 1972 through 1974. By June 1974, there were 666 projects nationwide operating on a Federal appropriation of 15 million dollars. By 1988, there were 760 projects supported by federal funding of 30 million dollars. Today, nearly 480,000 RSVP volunteers serve more than 65,000 public and private agencies nationwide.