St. Bernard Native Gives Back to His Community

Wednesday, 11 March 2009 22:48

Thanks to the efforts of St Bernard native Andy Piacun, studentvolunteers from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law are currently offering several free income tax preparation sessions for area residents. The students will be at the Community Center of St Bernard, 1107 LeBeau St, in Arabi on March 14, March 28 and April 4 from 10 AM - 2PM. No appointment is needed; however, residents are requested to arrive by 1:30 PM to ensure that their tax returns will be able to be completed by 2 PM.
The idea for the tax preparation sessions arose as a way for Mr. Piacun, an Arabi native who lost his home in Katrina and relocated to the Northshore, to give back for all of the help his family received after the disaster. Through his work with Loyola University's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) which has provided hundreds of taxpayers in the New Orleans metro area with free tax preparation over the last three years, Mr. Piacun found a way to help his friends and neighbors in St. Bernard. "Leaving St. Bernard was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever made. We love St. Bernard and left so much of ourselves behind" said Mr. Piacun. "Bringing Loyola's VITA program to St Bernard this year gives me the chance to repay a little of the debt we owe to the Parish for all that it means to our family. Hopefully we can ease some of the burdens faced by the folks in St. Bernard."

When Mr. Piacun pitched his idea to the student volunteers at Loyola, he received an enthusiastic response. Law student Stanley Bordelon was the first to volunteer for the St. Bernard outreach. "The Community Center's location allows us access to the two areas most severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina; St. Bernard and New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. After my first visit to the Community Center, I drove around St. Bernard and was humbled by the amount of destruction the Parish endured. All I could think was; how can we not help?"

The tax preparation and electronic filing services offered through Loyola's VITA Program are free and open to the public. All volunteers are IRS trained and certified and are supervised by Loyola tax law professor Bill Neilson and by Mr. Piacun, who is Loyola's VITA Site Coordinator and Budget Director at the College of Law. The VITA Program at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is IRS approved and affiliated with the American Bar Association.

In order to receive assistance from the Loyola student volunteers, taxpayers are reminded to bring photo identification and Social Security cards for each person included on their tax returns, as well as any W-2 forms, 1099 forms, Social Security statements and all other tax documents. For further information, please contact Bill Neilson or Andy Piacun of Loyola College of Law at 504-861-5668, or phone the Community Center at 504-281-2512.