We are over 22,000 members in 120 chapters nationwide focused on making our communities a better place to live. See us in action.
Transforming Lives • Strengthening Community
Assistance League in the Community
Together We Can Do More
Can you imagine 120 chapters with 26,000 members, each gearing up to do a one time a year project together. Well, that is exactly what is going to take place. The project is ACTION Week!
This project coincides with the birthday of our founder Anne Banning, February 24th. During the week of her birthday, chapters nationwide will have a special celebration for the children we serve. Activities may include collecting books and delivering them to participating agencies, a reading by a children’s book author, or chapters may go to their local library and read. There is also a chapter which will introduce the arts to children through painting and working with their hands doing crafts. The choices are inspiring. And the sky’s the limit.
In the past, this project has collected so many thousands of books for children who have never had a book of their own. An idle mind is such a waste and reading opens many doors for them. You are never bored in life when you have a book to read.
So, during the week of February 24th, search your community for an Assistance League and go and see all the wonderful work they do, and also how they are celebrating this yearly project.
Happy 2020. Check out the Assistance League. Walk in and see what they do and find out how you can help with their work. You may decide to be a volunteer yourself, donate goods to the many chapters who have thrift shops or to be an ambassador for this wonderful organization.
Find a Chapter or Thrift Shop
Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Accomplishments
million people served
million dollars returned to local communities
million hours of volunteer service
News from our Chapters
Each Saturday, starting September 29th through the middle of November, 2019, Assistance League of Sierra Foothills held Operation School Bell® shopping events. This year the chapter supplied its highest numbers of elementary and middle school children with new school clothes – 1,064 children from 14 El Dorado County School Districts including South Lake Tahoe. The […]
This school year, Assistance League of Los Altos provided over $33,000 worth of goods and services to five schools in the Sunnyvale School District. The nonprofit worked with the schools to find out what they needed and provided a variety of school supplies including 350 Spanish books for the San Miguel School library; 1,400 classroom […]
While the holiday season can be a time of food-centered celebration, for some Norman students, winter break can be a reminder of the chronic hunger they face at home. With nearly 50% of Norman Public Schools students on free or reduced lunch, and a smaller group facing daily hunger that may affect their lives and learning, […]
The San Jacinto Teachers’ Association recently raised $1,400 for the Assistance League of Hemacinto. The funds were raised at a social event featuring a poker tournament and a silent auction of gift baskets prepared by each school site in the San Jacinto Unified School District. “We greatly appreciate the Assistance League’s Operation School Bell project […]
Assisteens® Spotlight
HISTORY OF ASSISTEENS®
Assisteens is the youth auxiliary of Assistance League chapters. Assisteens provides volunteer opportunities for young people in grades 7 through 12. The goals are to develop a sense of community responsibility, self-reliance, personal responsibility, poise, public speaking, leadership skills and to support the chapter. Assisteens raise money in a variety of ways to fund ongoing Assistance League and Assisteens philanthropic programs that benefit their community.
Assistance League was founded in 1919 by Anne (Mrs. Hancock) Banning and her friends, based on an informal charity in Los Angeles started in about 1894. In the 1890s, social events raised money for local charitable giving. Assistance League, with Anne Banning and Ada Edwards (Mrs. Homer II) Laughlin and friends, provided money and clothing for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire victims. When the war started in Europe in 1914, Anne and her friends worked for the Red Cross and, in 1917, set up the Red Cross Shop that raised $150,000 in one year. After the war ended in 1918, the ladies wanted to continue working together, helping people in need.
In 1919, Assistance League was formally organized, with Good Samaritan providing aid to returning veterans and their families and the Film Location Bureau raising the needed funds by renting private properties to movie companies. Founding members were prominent women of Los Angeles of all faiths and political views. In 1923, Assistance League moved to DeLongpre Avenue in Hollywood where the campus of Founder Chapter (Assistance League of Southern California) remains today. The motto was “All For Service and Service For All.” Anne Banning felt that women worked best in like-minded groups, so auxiliaries were formed. Day Nursery was added in 1924, followed by Girls’ Club, Theatre for Children, Toy Loan and Boys’ Club. Junior Auxiliary was formed in 1929 for post-college-aged young women.
We Need Your Help
Join us! Become a part of an incredible group of volunteers who are dedicated to making a difference in your community. Assistance League offers unique volunteer opportunities that fit your interest and time.
