Chapter News

Meet Jan, chapter President for 2010-2011.

Jan served for a year as President-Elect, overseeing the orientation of the chapter’s newest members; prior to that she filled various roles in the chapter, including serving as co-chairman of Winter’s Eve Corvallis, our primary fundraiser.

Jan attended a training session in Ontario, California, where she and chapter presidents from across the nation learned the ins and outs of leading their groups. She will soon be distributing materials and information to her many officers and committee chairmen and efficiently conducting Board meetings.

Although Board members meet almost every month during the year, the general membership takes the summer off—at least from regular monthly meetings. However, the chapter remains active in planning and preparing for activities and events all summer long. Thus, as an ex-officio member of every committee, Jan will be busy working on a variety of tasks. Always cheerful and helpful, she will also spend much of her time answering emailed questions and giving advice by telephone to her officers and committee chairmen.

The President’s job description includes conducting and attending meetings, reporting to National, signing documents, and overseeing the general operation of the chapter, a very broad scope! Consequently, you might find Jan moving furniture in preparation for a meeting. Or you might find her unloading the chapter house’s dishwasher. You’ll regularly find her sorting mail or checking the chapter’s email messages. Her innate common sense, her experience in both Assistance League and other venues, and her able officers will make Jan’s year as chapter president successful and enjoyable. She epitomizes Assistance League’s motto: Caring and Commitment in Action.

Meet Lynne and Sandi

Meet Lynne and Sandi, our current SAT Review chairmen. They have the tasks of setting up twice-yearly review sessions for students planning to take the SATs in preparation for college. Long before the students ever enter the classroom for their review sessions, Lynne and Sandi have been hard at work behind the scenes.

They have arranged for a venue for the classes, which meet for six weeks in both the fall and the spring. They also contract with two teachers to conduct the review sessions: a math instructor and a language-arts instructor. Then they set the dates for the reviews based on the dates that the actual SAT exams are administered locally so that the students can complete all of their six sessions before the test date.

Once the logistics have been covered, Lynne and Sandi review their records from previous sessions to determine how many of the test-review guidebooks they need to order for upcoming classes. (Often, they need to decide where to store a mountain of books until they’re distributed!) With plenty of books ordered, their next job is to make sure that all the local students know about the review classes. Contacting local school counselors is one of their methods of getting the word out, but individual letters to the families of local juniors and seniors is even more effective. They print up letters and registration forms and recruit volunteers to help prepare the mailing. In the meantime, they recruit a volunteer to serve as the registrar. She will collect the registration forms and accompanying checks and send out letters confirming that each student is officially enrolled in the session of choice.

Meet Nancy, Maja and Carolyn

Nancy, Maja and Carolyn are the co-chairmen of Operation School Bell. These devoted volunteers manage the budget and maintain the inventory of clothing for the program. They work closely with our volunteer buyers to make sure we have a full range of sizes and styles to suit all the school kids whom we serve. These ladies oversee a cadre of volunteers who work with schools and social service agencies to make sure that we know appropriate sizes and preferences and that the schools know our schedules. These co-chairmen also schedule volunteers to choose the individual items each recipient receives from our large and diverse inventory. As a general rule, we give each student we serve several items of new clothing: one or two pairs of jeans, shirts, sweat pants and top, five sets of underwear and socks, shoes, a jacket, and a hygiene kit (filled with toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, shampoo, comb, (and deodorant for older kids.) So far this school year, over 450 students have received clothing to enable them to attend school, fit in with their peers, and make the learning process possible. Our hats are off to these dedicated volunteers!

Meet Becky and Ann

Becky and Ann are our shoppers-extraordinaire! They select almost all the clothing items for Operation School Bell. Although they shop locally as much as possible, they’ve been known to take advantage of bargains wherever they travel. One of our goals is to make sure that outfits are individualized so that the children clothed by Operation School Bell don’t have a uniform appearance. Becky’s and Ann’s devoted shopping provides clothing recipients with a wide range of styles and colors and sizes. For some children, these outfits are the only new clothes they’ve ever had; they really appreciate Becky’s and Ann’s good sense of style. The volunteers who fill the orders appreciate the variety of clothing as well because selecting the perfect item in just the right color can really be fun! Thanks, Becky and Ann!

HAPPY 50TH, OPERATION SCHOOL BELL

Operation School Bell began over fifty years ago as a one-woman effort to provide clothing to disadvantaged children; it is now the signature national philanthropic program for Assistance League.

Ruth Ann Montgomery, a school-teacher in the Los Angeles school district, saw children from one family coming to school on a rotating basis. She discovered that the children came to school based on whose turn it was to wear the clothes that day. Castoffs were gathered from friends and family and "Clothes Closet" opened in Ruth Ann Montgomery's classroom, giving out clothing to children so they all could attend school on a regular basis. Ruth Ann Montgomery moved to Bakersfield, CA., and the Volunteer Service Guild was established to promote the mission of outfitting school children whose parents couldn't afford to buy them the clothes they needed. Teachers, school nurses and counselors referred children who came in growing numbers.

Volunteer Service Guild became a chapter of Assistance League in 1958 and took the program name Operation School Bell.  In 1997, Operation School Bell was adopted as the national philanthropic program for Assistance League chapters. Operation School Bell has provided new clothing, including jackets and shoes, to over one million school children. Volunteers fit each child or help them select clothing; for many children these are the first clothes that belong solely to them. Uniforms are provided in school districts where this is a requirement.

Operation School Bell is the signature philanthropic program for 117 chapters and guilds across the United States with combined annual budgets totaling more than 9.5 million dollars for this program. Our own local chapter has clothed over 700 children in Benton County during the current year. Each child receives new clothing:  jeans and shirts, sweat pants, sweatshirt, a warm coat, and a voucher for a pair of shoes.  In addition, each child receives a hygiene kit, including soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, and deodorant for older students. Operation School Bell helps children’s ability to learn and their self-esteem.

Our members and the countless recipients of Operation School Bell’s help over the years, both here in Benton County and nationwide, celebrate the program’s 50th year and look forward to many more helpful years!

A NEW WAY TO HELP
In our slow economy, the women of Assistance League have stretched their involvement to fill an increasing community need. As of December, we have filled over 400 School Bell orders, and we have increased the dollar amount of the shoe vouchers to meet rising prices. Also, we approved a health-and-hygiene addition to our School Bell program.  We have set aside $5000 to begin to provide basic care items such as toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, and laundry soap. We will be working through the school district.