Lend a hand!

Transcript

(Animated intro sequence - Various elements associated with personal finances fly pass camera as we settle on the “Lend a hand” logo. After a brief pause, the logo disappears and we fly through a community cityscape before ending on…

(Main live-action/stop-motion segment - We see a woman (Joanne) setting up her desk early morning in a tax preparation clinic. CVITP posters line the wall.

(Narrator)

Meet Joanne. Joanne's got a feeling—a feeling of accomplishment, of satisfaction.

A satisfaction that comes from knowing you're part of something bigger.

(Joanne is at her desk opening a laptop with CVITP image onscreen.)

You see, Joanne hosts a tax preparation clinic at her community centre with the support of the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program. And this tax season she wants to let her friends, family, and colleagues know that a program like this can make a huge difference in their local communities.

(Images of people helping others – seniors, mothers with babies, etc.)

Joanne's community centre is one of over 2,000 community organizations across Canada that host tax preparation clinics every year. Volunteers work hard to file over a half a million returns on behalf of those who need help; those who might otherwise miss out on important tax credits and benefits. These organizations and volunteers make their community a place where individuals can come together to help each other.

(We quickly pull out from the tax preparation clinic, first to Canada, and then the entire planet.)

(Next to the now tiny planet the dictionary definition pops up in quotations.)

(Music soars. We quickly blast back towards the earth, arriving back at our tax preparation clinic. Now it is bustling with people.)

Because being part of a community means so much more than that. It means being there and being involved. It means knowing that each small and large act can add up to great things.

(Joanne helps people with their taxes. Lots of happy faces.)

Want to lend a hand? As a community organization, you can host tax preparation clinics and arrange for volunteers to prepare income tax and benefit returns for eligible individuals who have modest incomes and simple tax situations.

(Joanne with her volunteers and her support network.)

(We pull out to Canada. Tax preparation clinics start popping up all over Canada. The camera moves in on Quebec as a series of relevant info graphics show up.)

In the province of Quebec, the Canada Revenue Agency partners with Revenu Québec to support the Volunteer Program for preparing both federal and provincial tax returns.

The Canada Revenue Agency offers training and tax software as well as a network of Community Volunteer Income Tax Program coordinators to help community organizations and their volunteers as they deliver the program.

(Visuals of training and coaching - forms being filled out and electronically filed.)

For over 40 years, the program has been possible through collaboration between the Canada Revenue Agency and community organizations across Canada.

(Info-graphics that represent 40 years of supports, as well as indicators for “eligible individuals.”)

Joanne's got a feeling, and she's feeling pretty great! And as she gives back to her community, she feels a sense of accomplishment, of having helped someone.

(The last person walks out satisfied, Joanne packs up her things. We pull out to reveal a happy thriving community, full of life.)

For more information about the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, or to see how you can help, go to www.cra.gc.ca/volunteer.