Volunteers of America Northern New England is holding its yearly kickoff of free tax consultations this Saturday for families earning less than $50,000 per year, with a stated goal of helping 4,000 individual Mainers file their taxes and take full advantage of all the IRS programs and breaks available to them.

VOANNE’s volunteer accountants are fanning out across the state — including stops in Sanford, Portland, Norway and Bath, among other places — and the organization believes it can bring more than $8 million in federal tax refunds back to the state for some late winter economic relief.

KeyBank is sponsoring the so-called Super Refund Saturday and is listed as a key partner in VOANNE’s Creating Assets, Savings and Hope program, which conveniently and I’m sure unintentionally can be shortened to the acronym C.A.S.H. (for promotional purposes, VOANNE spices it up with the dollar sign, to read “CA$H”).

“Together we help low- and moderate-income Mainers make the most of their money through education about and access to crucial tax credits, free tax preparation and connection to community resources,” a Volunteers of America announcement reads, in part.

The organization went on to state that about 21 percent of Mainers who are eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (E.I.T.C., which isn’t a clever acronym at all, but could be worth up to $5,172 per refund) don’t take advantage of it.

Here’s a statement by VOA Project Director Sharon Ross on the subject:

There is a huge opportunity here. In a time of very tight family and state budgets, this program offers one of the most effective and cost-effective ways to bring in money that is just sitting out there waiting to be collected. Best of all, the service is free and refunds can be received in as little as eight days if filed electronically. … The service continues to serve a crucial need in Maine. The average wage of those served last year was at about $26,000 and the average additional money returned from the E.I.T.C. was $1,800. That’s an average increase in annual income of almost 6 percent, and every little bit saved during the tax preparation process makes a world of difference.

To make an appointment for a free tax preparation with a VOANNE volunteer (CA$H program consultations are available through April 10, in case this Saturday isn’t good for you) in Portland — or in Penobscot, Piscataquis, Washington, Waldo and Hancock counties, for that matter — dial the informational hotline of 211.

York County residents can call 324-5762, ext. 2718, to schedule a tax preparation, and those in the Bath-Brunswick area can phone 319-1390.

For the sake of being thorough, here are the numbers for the other areas of the state not mentioned above: Lewiston-Auburn, 513-3160; Oxford County, 491-7475; western Maine, 491-3747; and the Waterville and Skowhegan areas, 873-7700.