“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” This is a famous quote taken from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech. Changing his words slightly with to “ask not what your community can do for you, ask what you can do for your community” and I believe you have what the Assistance League of Boise does. We have one of the nicest Thrift Shops I have ever been in and 11 philanthropies that have served over 4,268 grade schoolers and teens this past year and provided supplies to 107 schools throughout Ada and Canyon counties. In the past year alone they have provided more than 244 baby bundles, both in Ada and Canyon County, of necessary items for mothers needing support, 42 duffel bags of items to help homeless teens and those teens that are leaving the foster care system, 64 sets of hearing aides and 7 college scholarships to hearing impaired students, and 42 wigs to those who are in need of them for any medical reason. One philanthropy, CARES Closet, is in a partnership with Faces of Hope which helps children who are needing protection. But just as it takes all the parts of a watch to be assembled to tell time, all of the pieces of a flower to be a beautiful flower, each part of our body to function together to keep us going, our Assistance League needs each of our over 300 members with their unique personalities, talents, gifts and skills to work on each of the 43 committees (non philanthropy) and 11 philanthropies in order to make all of those services possible. It all starts in the back room with receiving who becomes our front line committee that has the job of sorting through a mountain of donations (which we are very grateful for) on a daily basis and gets it to the appropriate back room committee to be prepared for sale in our wonderful Thrift Shop. The cashiers in the Thrift Shop, often with help from the Thrift Shop managers, do the amazing job of selling those items in order to make money that is then used to purchase items with approximately 79% of the Thrift Shop profits going to our 11 philanthropies. Through our 11 philanthropies we are then able to “transform lives, strengthen communities”. It is my honor to be a part of such an amazing organization.

– Kay McGee, President, Assistance League of Boise