Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)

Mentoring youth is a special gift seniors can give to their community.

RSVP, the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program of the Community Service Society, is a nationally-acclaimed program that enlists older adults and retirees to serve as volunteers in their communities. It is the largest older adult volunteer program in the nation with more than 7,000 volunteers who contribute one and a half million hours of service annually working in 600 organization throughout the five boroughs.

Since its inception in 1966 as SERVE (Serve & Enrich Retirement through Volunteer Experience), when 23 volunteers were first recruited on Staten Island, RSVP has grown into the largest senior volunteer program in the United States. That model program on Staten Island became part of ACTION (the federal domestic volunteer agency) in 1971, which resulted in the establishment of some 750 RSVP programs across the country with over half a million volunteers in service to their communities. RSVP has also been replicated internationally, with RSVP programs now operating in 41 nations. The RSVP sponsor in New York City, the Community Service Society, is a pioneering social welfare agency which has been working since 1848 to enable poor, elderly and disabled individuals to improve their lives. In 1996, RSVP celebrated its 30th anniversary as CSS's longest continuously operating program.

Contact RSVP to Volunteer or Get Volunteers

Volunteer Opportunities

Information for Agencies
  (Consulting/Training for Managing Volunteers)

Internet Resources
  (for Volunteers or Managers of Volunteers)

Experience Corps

Volunteering Info
  (Becoming an RSVP Volunteer)

An RSVP Story