The United Way of Muskingum Perry and Morgan Counties is preparing for its twelfth round of helping community members file their taxes — this year’s goal is to serve 1,600 individuals and families.

Last year, the United Way served 1,448 clients and is hoping to increase the clientele by 152 households.

With the tax clinic opening in less than two weeks, the United Way is looking for more volunteers to help community clients file their taxes.

“I need some volunteers because I can’t serve these people without them,” Becky Clawson, United Way of MPM Community Impact Director, said.

The organization is looking for 10 volunteers per day for four to five days per week to help clients enter their information into a system called Credit Karma.

“(It’s) a really easy to use system, gives our clients access to their credit report, fraud alerts, things like that that’ll be helpful in the management of their financial wellness throughout the year,” Clawson said.

With Credit Karma, Clawson said the tax clinic process has been simplified and will help appointments go more quickly than in years past.

Training is provided for anyone who is able to volunteer for the clinics. Volunteers can commit anywhere from a couple hours per week to a couple hours per month to help with the clinics.

While training will be provided to each volunteer, there will also be a clinic manager present during the tax clinic days to assist anyone that may need extra help.

“The volunteers typically tell me that this is the best volunteer experience they’ve ever had,” Clawson said. “It’s the most meaningful, it’s instantly changing this person’s life that you’re helping, bringing that revenue back into their household and helping them meet some needs that they have immediately.”

In addition to the gratification that volunteers receive from helping others meet their needs, Clawson said the clients make the process even more rewarding.

“The clients are so appreciative of the service,” Clawson said. “And so we need to keep it going. It’s probably one of the most valuable ways that we can increase the assets for the folks who live here in our community, which is our goal.”

The tax clinics begin Jan. 27 and run through April 3.

Anyone interested in volunteering to assist with the clinics can contact Clawson by stopping by the United Way, located at 526 Putnam Ave., or calling her at 740.740.454.6872 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Interested volunteers can also send her an email at bclawson@unitedwayofmpm.org.

Anyone interested in being a client of the free tax service can call 211 to schedule an appointment. The appointments are one-on-one with a clinic volunteer who will help clients correctly enter all of their needed information into Credit Karma.

More than one year of taxes can be filed using the United Way’s tax clinic. Each client that is filing more than one year of taxes is asked to make a separate appointment for each filing year.