This school year disadvantaged children from all over Contra Costa County will be going on a shopping spree.
Assistance League of Diablo Valley, an all-women volunteer organization, will continue providing school children in need with new school clothes through its Operation School Bell program.
Last year, Operation School Bell provided new clothing to 2,410 children from 35 schools in the county. In January, the league also provided new uniforms and school supplies for all 306 students at Verde Elementary School in Richmond. Verde had the lowest school attendance in the district and the lowest Academic Performance Index score in all of California. The league hopes that new clothes and school supplies will bolster students’ confidence and enthusiasm for school.
The school children that participate in Operation School Bell are referred by their school districts. Many of the children also receive subsidized lunches, said Pat Jenkins of Blackhawk, who is a member of Assistance League.
Operation School Bell begins again with the start of the school year. A buyer from the league goes to New York each year to purchase clothes from different wholesalers. Then, starting in September, school children will be bused to Assistance League headquarters in Walnut Creek, 20-30 children at a time. In one day there are usually two shifts. Each child is assigned to a volunteer who helps pick out new clothes.
Jenkins said it is like a mini-department store. “There is a boys room and a girls room. They pick out what they want. They go home with a whole garbage bag full of goodies. Everybody gets positive feelings. The kids feel good. The people dressing them feel good. It’s a win-win situation.”
The children also receive hygiene kits, shoes, backpacks and jackets. Everything is bought with money from Assistant League’s Way Side Inn Thrift Shop and Costume Rental in Lafayette. The Wayside Inn Thrift Shop has been in business since 1978.
“It’s our biggest moneymaker,” said Jenkins. “Members staff the thrift shop for free. The Assistance League owns the building so there is no overhead, other than we have to turn on the electricity.”
The league also raises money for Operation School Bell through a program called “Sock It To ‘Em.” Tiny Christmas socks are sent out to people on the league’s mailing list. If people choose to make a donation, they send it back in the sock. All proceeds go toward Operation School Bell.
Most of the children who benefit from Operation School Bell are not from the Danville, Blackhawk, Alamo area, but a great deal of the Assistance League members are, said Jenkins.
“These are good people that are still out there and still care about the world,” said Jenkins.
Jenkins herself got involved with the league after she retired from work at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. A friend of Jenkins’ was already involved in the league and recommended it to Jenkins. The Diablo Valley chapter has more than 450 members.
“I think it’s absolutely super. You get more from giving, you really do,” said Jenkins.
The Assistance League is a hands-on volunteer organization. In addition to Operation School Bell, the league also puts on theatrical performances at nursing homes, provides layettes of diapers, bottles and blankets for young mothers, performs educational Bunraku puppet shows for elementary school children, screens preschool-age children for amblyopia or “lazy eye,” and gives out thousands of dollars in scholarships.
To find out more about Assistance League of Diablo Valley, visit www.assistanceleaguedv.org.
