(Burbank, CA ­ February 1, 2002) Woodbury University students and other community volunteers will offer free help to area residents who need assistance preparing their tax returns. All volunteers are trained through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program sponsored by the IRS.

Free assistance will be available on Saturdays, beginning February 16 and continuing through April 13. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., upstairs in the main Burbank Library, Glenoaks and Olive boulevards. Assistance will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

VITA is aimed at those for whom paid professional assistance may be out of reach, those who are non­English speaking, persons with disabilities, those with a low to fixed income, the elderly and other individuals with special needs. In addition, the program assists individuals who qualify for homestead credit or the earned income credit.

Accounting professor Jon Myers, CPA, supervises Woodbury’s VITA program.

For more information, please call Myers at 818.767.0888, ext. 333.

Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. An accredited, nonprofit university, Woodbury is located on a 22-acre residential campus in Burbank and offers bachelor's degrees from the School of Architecture and Design, Business and Management, and Arts and Sciences. Woodbury also offers a master of business administration as well as weekend and evening study for working adults. A San Diego campus was established in 1998 to offer bachelor of architecture degrees.