Assistance League of Santa Barbara has participated in National Assistance League’s annual ACTION! Week, a nationwide event to promote literacy, by partnering with 2nd Story Associates (a nonprofit division of the Housing Authority of Santa Barbara County) and the Santa Barbara Public Library in a program to provide literacy material to local children from infancy to five years old.
Early Literacy kits, provided by First 5 Santa Barbara, will be available to about 100 families living in HACSB properties. Volunteers will instruct the parents on their use. The library will train the volunteers and provide additional material and resources.
“Literacy is a priority to our organization and we are proud to be a part of this effort to bring the joy of reading to preschool children,” said Penny Luce, Assistance League president “As a former educator, I know first-hand that early exposure to books can lead to a lifelong love of learning.”
Assistance League of Santa Barbara develops and implements 17 philanthropic programs which benefit all age groups in Santa Barbara County. These programs are primarily funded by the Assistance League Thrift Shop, 1259 Veronica Springs Road.
The shop is open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.
Along with its auxiliaries, Las Aletas and Assisteens, the organization’s 350 members volunteer more than 50,000 hours a year to improve the lives of local residents. Assistance League of Santa Barbara is one of 120 chapters of National Assistance League which began in Los Angeles in 1919.
For more information, visit www.assistanceleaguesb.org.
— Susan Engles for Assistance League of Santa Barbara.
