December 27, 2007

Assistance League recognizes volunteers

The Assistance Leagues® of San Jose recently honored volunteers at the 2007 holiday luncheon. The group, a chapter of the National Assistance League®, is a nonprofit, philanthropic group serving the needs of the local community, especially children in need and senior citizens.

The luncheon, held at San Jose’s Capitol Club on Dec. 19, also allowed the group to honor Glenna Trudeau, a longtime Almaden Valley philanthropist who received the chapter’s Ada Edwards Laughlin Award for distinguished service for 17 years in Assistance League.

Newest members mingled with members who started with the organization in 1983. “Volunteering is so much fun because programs are so well organized and worthwhile,” said new member Mary Dingley, expressing the sentiments of an exceptionally active 2007 class.

Veteran volunteer Lorie Rizzo, a seasoned educator, delighted at a standing ovation from second graders who appreciated her animated reading and the books donated by the Assistance League.

The Kids on the Block program, a puppet show designed to build self-esteem and provide tools to deal with bullying, is so popular that the league plans to add more performances next year. Elsie Taketa, a second-year member, reflected that the organization “embodies the spirit of the holiday season all year long--giving, caring, generosity of heart and time.”

Nancy Flynn, luncheon chair, and her social committee organized appreciation gifts to members for their hard work throughout the year. Members won handcrafted blankets and red rose floral arrangements all created by Lynda Tomasello, last year’s recipient of the Laughlin Award and one of the original founders of Assistance League of San Jose.

Among the league’s programs are the following seven:

Operation School Bell® provides elementary school children in local school districts with uniforms to help increase self-esteem and encourage regular school attendance. This year it provided 4,400 uniforms to 2,200 students in need at 22 different San Jose schools. This program was established in 1994.

Kids On The Block® is an international award-winning educational puppet program offered free of charge to local schools. The puppets are nearly life-size and are used to portray how children deal with such concerns as disabilities, cultural difference and social problems. It was established in 1991, and this year performed puppet shows on bullying prevention for more than 1,000 elementary students and distributed booklets at 10 different schools.

Screening Eyes Early (Project S.E.E) provides vision screening to preschool children to detect early signs of amblyopia (lazy eye) to 1,000 preschoolers. This program was established in 2003.

Readers are Leaders instills the love of reading for students in area schools by using members who visit classrooms on a regular basis and read carefully selected books. A new program, this was established in 2007.

Hug-A-Bear is a cooperative program between Assistance League of San Jose and city and county agencies. It provides teddy bears to children to ease the trauma of accident or abuse. It was established in 1988.

Layette Interest Group makes and donates hand-made blankets and caps to Valley Medical Pediatric Unit.

Senior Programs bring reassurance and comfort to elderly and shut-in persons in the greater San Jose area with the Telecare program and by providing recreational activities to residents of senior facilities with the Bingo program. Established in 1983.

The Assistance League of San Jose® is dedicated to improving the quality of life for those in need through its philanthropic programs. From the vision of a small group of women, members now come from greater San Jose and beyond. It was established in 1983 and officially chartered to the national organization in 1988. As it enters its 25th year, 88 members provided more than 10,000 hours of community service by supporting seven philanthropic programs serving residents of Santa Clara County.

ALSJ provides over $75,000 of financial support to our community programs. It holds two fund-raising activities per year and welcomes grants from community organizations. In 2007-08, 11 community sources provided grants: Downtown Rotary, Almaden Rotary, Xilinx, Intero Realty, Wells Fargo Bank, First Days of School Foundation, Almaden Valley Women’s Club, Construction Managers and Councilmembers Nancy Pyle, Judy Chirco and Nora Campos.

The Assistance League’s 2007-08 Board is composed of elected officials. They are President Judy Demko; President-Elect JoAnn Khoobyarian: first vice president Membership Arline Veteska: second vice president Philanthropic Programs Karen Bode; third vice president Resource Development Joyce Hughes; Treasurer Phyllis Faxon; Recording Secretary Martie Degutis; Corresponding Secretary Carol George; Education Gretchen Coelho; Strategic Planning Juanita McCoy; Public Relations Elsie Taketa; Finance Karen Davis; and Newsletter Lynn Citti.