Our Community Service Programs

Transforming Lives โ€ข Strengthening Community

Readers Are Leaders Volunteer reading in classroom

Readers Are Leaders

During the 2024-25 school year, our members read two books each month to over 1,000 students in 49 second and third grade classrooms. The books, along with related projects, are left in the classroom. Each child received a book of their own to take home at the holidays and 3 books to read over the summer.

Listening to Readers

Volunteers read aloud various genres of books to students in 2nd and 3rd grade San Jose schools, modeling reading with expression and instilling in students a love of reading.

Bagging Uniforms

Operation School Bellยฎ

During the 2024-25 school year, Assistance League of San Jose provided school uniforms and sweatshirts to over 4,500 students in San Jose schools (pants, shirts, sweatshirts, underwear and socks).

Screening Eyes Early working with a child

Screening Eyes Early (S.E.E.)

During the 2024-25 year, the Screening Eyes Early Program screened 528 preschool children at 19 pre-schools to detect early signs of amblyopia (lazy eye) and poor eyesight, alerting parents and teachers to possible sight issues.

Assist-a-Shelter Petting Zoo at Family Supportive Housing

Assist-a-Shelter

Members cook dinner once a month at San Jose’s Family Supportive Housing. Four times a year, they put on a special event for the families. Members also read to Moms and their children at Parisi House on the Hill and volunteer at CityTeam, helping to provide food and toiletries to the city’s residents in need.

Baby in layette from Caring Hands

Caring Hands

In the 2024-25 year, Caring Hands created over 2,300 baby blankets for new moms at local hospitals, plus additional quilts and lap blankets for Parisi House on the Hill, Family Supportive Housing, and two residential care facilities.

Senior Bingo at A Grace

Bingo

Assistance League members provide craft activities, bingo with small prizes, holiday foods and gift bags to residents at San Jose’s A Grace Sub Acute & Skilled Care facility and Stonebrook Convalescent Homes.

Hug-a-Bear

Hug-a-Bear

Assistance League of San Jose donates thousands of teddy bears to organizations serving children in crisis through organizations including the San Jose Police Department, Santa Clara County domestic abuse centers, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Family Supportive Housing.

Year in Review

94%

of funds raised are returned to the San Jose community

27+

thousand people served inย the San Joseย community

28

thousand hours volunteered

News & Events

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  • News
  • Uncategorized

Is Gravity Still Your Friend?

AL of San Jose was delighted to ๐Ÿ‘ welcome guest speaker, Dr. Jim Mahoney to our November Regular Meeting. ๐Ÿ‘ Dr. Mahoney is a retired ๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿซteacher of 33 yrs. whose focus was in ๐Ÿ“– Special Education. He also taught a ๐Ÿ›Ÿ Safety and Risk Management Certificate program for 28 yrs. at Cal State University of […]

Giving Tuesday begins December 2nd – Help Us Make a Difference

๐Ÿ—“๏ธ Our Giving Campaign begins December 2, 2025 and will run through the ๐ŸŽ„ holiday season. Our ๐ŸŒก๏ธ goal is $12,000. Please help us reach our ๐Ÿ’ต goal so that we can continue to give back to our community. โค๏ธOur volunteers deliver ๐Ÿ‘•uniforms to schools in the fall, ๐Ÿ“šread in classrooms each month from October-April, […]

Dining for Dollars FUN Fundraiser

Thank you Jack Holder’s Restaurant ๐Ÿฅ— for supporting our Dining for Dollars ๏ผ„fundraiser event. Our members had a ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ wonderful time gathering together,๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธtalking, and ๐Ÿคฃ laughing while enjoying a ๐Ÿ˜‹ delicious meal! Our Dining for Dollars is one of the many ๐Ÿฅฐ fabulous fundraising events we have as a chapter. Want to experience a good […]

Just in Time for Thanksgiving

Several times a month our volunteers ๐Ÿ‘ญ๐Ÿ‘ญ bag food for CityTeam San Jose. Such a simple act can bring a smile ๐Ÿ˜€ to many in our ๐Ÿ  community, especially during the holidays. Our members have a good time chatting, getting to know each other all the while filling bags with a variety of packaged and […]

Readers Are Leaders Bring Stories to Life

Our Readers Are Leaders ๐Ÿ‘ธ๐Ÿปprogram instills the love of reading ๐Ÿ“šin young students ๐Ÿง’๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿพ by having volunteers read in their classrooms on a regular basis. Readers Are Leaders ๐Ÿ‘ธ๐Ÿปvolunteers entertain ๐ŸŽญ, enlighten, and encourage the students ๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿป. Our volunteers read quality, age-appropriate literature ๐Ÿ“š including books about science, biographies and fiction. On each visit members […]

Our Parnership with CityTeam – Toiletry Kits

Every month, AL of San Jose volunteers assemble toiletry kits to deliver to CityTeam for distribution to people in need in our community.๐Ÿชฅ๐Ÿงผ๐Ÿงด๐Ÿช’ Since the beginning of our fiscal year in June, we have donated 423 kits! Most of these kits contain full-size items and were distributed to low income families, but some of our […]

Thank You, AL of San Jose

“Dearest Donor, Family Supportive Housing thanks you from the bottom of our hearts for your support! As the weather cools and the holidays approach, community becomes more important than ever. Your generous contribution not only furthers our mission but also reminds families that their community truly cares. We are so grateful you are apart of […]

Thank you, Star One Credit Union

Our partnership with Star One Credit Union empowers us to make a difference in our community. ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ Whether it’s books ๐Ÿ“š for children, food ๐Ÿฅ˜ for the hungry, or clothing for babies in need ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿผ, together we can make a positive change for a better tomorrow! โค๏ธ Thank you Star One for your grant. We […]

Readers Are Leaders Partners with King Library

Readers Are Leaders (RAL) has embarked on a partnership with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library (King Library).๐Ÿ‘ In September, librarians from the King Library conducted a training session with our readers to help them improve their skills reading to students. In October, in addition to the books students receive from the Assistance League๐Ÿ“š, […]

Readers Are Leaders Begin a New School Year

Readers Are Leaders began the 2025-2026 school year reading 2 books in October.๐Ÿ“—๐Ÿ“˜ Students listened carefully as volunteers read “The Curious Why” written by Angela DiTerlizzi & illustrated by Lorena Alvarez Gomez and “That’s Not My Name” written and illustrated by Anoosha Syed. Afterward, students participated in discussions about the stories. Student also received a […]

Boo!๐Ÿ‘ป๐ŸŽƒ๐Ÿฆ‡The Halloween Costume Shop at Family Supportive Housing is Open!

The Halloween Costume Shop at Family Supportive Housing opened to the delight of the children and parents living in the residence as they chose costumes for the holiday.๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ฆ AL of San Jose volunteers had a preview of Halloween fun too, as they helped pick out a favorite costume๐Ÿงน๐Ÿค ๐Ÿค ๐Ÿคด๐Ÿงš๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿง™โ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿช„๐Ÿคก for each child and handed out treats.๐ŸŽ‰ […]

2025-2026 Readers Are Leaders Books

AL of San Jose has chosen 12 wonderful books ๐Ÿ“što read to students in 46 San Jose elementary school classrooms during this school year. ๐Ÿซ The selection includes a variety of biographies, science and fiction to spark their imaginations and introduce topics of interest. These 12 books will be added to each classroom library.๐Ÿ“–๐Ÿ“– Every […]

News & Events

  • All
  • News
  • Uncategorized

Is Gravity Still Your Friend?

AL of San Jose was delighted to ๐Ÿ‘ welcome guest speaker, Dr. Jim Mahoney to our November Regular Meeting. ๐Ÿ‘ Dr. Mahoney is a retired ๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿซteacher of 33 yrs. whose focus was in ๐Ÿ“– Special Education. He also taught a ๐Ÿ›Ÿ Safety and Risk Management Certificate program for 28 yrs. at Cal State University of […]

Giving Tuesday begins December 2nd – Help Us Make a Difference

๐Ÿ—“๏ธ Our Giving Campaign begins December 2, 2025 and will run through the ๐ŸŽ„ holiday season. Our ๐ŸŒก๏ธ goal is $12,000. Please help us reach our ๐Ÿ’ต goal so that we can continue to give back to our community. โค๏ธOur volunteers deliver ๐Ÿ‘•uniforms to schools in the fall, ๐Ÿ“šread in classrooms each month from October-April, […]

Dining for Dollars FUN Fundraiser

Thank you Jack Holder’s Restaurant ๐Ÿฅ— for supporting our Dining for Dollars ๏ผ„fundraiser event. Our members had a ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ wonderful time gathering together,๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธtalking, and ๐Ÿคฃ laughing while enjoying a ๐Ÿ˜‹ delicious meal! Our Dining for Dollars is one of the many ๐Ÿฅฐ fabulous fundraising events we have as a chapter. Want to experience a good […]

Just in Time for Thanksgiving

Several times a month our volunteers ๐Ÿ‘ญ๐Ÿ‘ญ bag food for CityTeam San Jose. Such a simple act can bring a smile ๐Ÿ˜€ to many in our ๐Ÿ  community, especially during the holidays. Our members have a good time chatting, getting to know each other all the while filling bags with a variety of packaged and […]

Readers Are Leaders Bring Stories to Life

Our Readers Are Leaders ๐Ÿ‘ธ๐Ÿปprogram instills the love of reading ๐Ÿ“šin young students ๐Ÿง’๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿพ by having volunteers read in their classrooms on a regular basis. Readers Are Leaders ๐Ÿ‘ธ๐Ÿปvolunteers entertain ๐ŸŽญ, enlighten, and encourage the students ๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿป. Our volunteers read quality, age-appropriate literature ๐Ÿ“š including books about science, biographies and fiction. On each visit members […]

Our Parnership with CityTeam – Toiletry Kits

Every month, AL of San Jose volunteers assemble toiletry kits to deliver to CityTeam for distribution to people in need in our community.๐Ÿชฅ๐Ÿงผ๐Ÿงด๐Ÿช’ Since the beginning of our fiscal year in June, we have donated 423 kits! Most of these kits contain full-size items and were distributed to low income families, but some of our […]

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