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HANNIBAL, MO. -- A decision by US senators and congressmen could have a far-reaching effect on local Retired Senior Volunteer Programs.

In Hannibal, the RSVP logged about 65,000 volunteer hours for 2010.

Stacey Nicholas, is the director of the Hannibal RSVP and Dave Dexheimer is the executive director of the Douglass Community Center and they both know just how important the $40,000 in federal funding is for the RSVP program in Hannibal.

They use that money to help get matching local funds to run the program.

Without that money, they say 355 people who volunteered last year won't have a place to give their time.

"Our RSVP volunteers help run food banks, help run clothing centers. During natural disasters, they're the first people to help victims come to terms with where they are and to get what they need", according to Nicholas.

Nicholas said those who gave their time to be a volunteer through the RSVP program, donated about 65,000 hours to community agencies in a seven county region in Northeast Missouri.

She said a loss in federal funding means a loss for countless non-profit organizations across the area.

"It would be a tremendous loss to the not-for-profits and the community agencies that we support. Because they would no longer be able to call into Douglass and say, 'hey, I need four volunteers to do this.' Because there would be nowhere for them to get those volunteers," said Nicholas.

Nicholas said that you can contact either your US Congressional representative or your US senator if you don't want to see the funding cut.