Assistance League of San Jose

Operation school bell (osb) this is the chapter's largest program, whose goal is to provide the basic clothing needs of families who do not have the means to purchase required school uniforms for their children. San Jose is considered a center of technological innovation, but there are many pockets of poverty as well. Osb serves elementary schools in San Jose that have a high percentage of students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Surveys of teachers indicate that new school uniforms improve a child's self-esteem, sense of belonging, behavior and attendance. In the 2023-2024 school year osb provided 5,796 shirts, 5,888 pants, 7,500 pairs of socks and 4,260 sweatshirts to in-need students in 39 elementary schools, a school district's homeless and foster youth program, a preschool age program, and a family shelter program.

Caring hands this program uses the knitting and crocheting skills of chapter members to create beautiful hand-made items for mothers delivering babies at the county medical center and other hospitals, for the two residential treatment centers that are served by senior bingo, and for parisi house. During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, caring hands donated 2,649 layettes, 284 quilts, 30 pillows and 67 lap blankets.

Readers are leaders (ral) the purpose of this program is to encourage the love of reading in young children at underperforming schools, because reading is the foundation of education. In the 2023-2024 school year this program provided 12,830 student books, 9,360 student enrichment activities, and 600 classroom books to 50 classrooms in 10 schools. In addition, 12 teachers applied for and received grant money totaling $675 to buy books for their classes. The newly added summer reading project delivered three reading books per student to be given out on the last day of school, so that the students would not lose the progress they had made during the year.

Hug-a-bear this program provides cuddly teddy bears to local agencies to distribute to children who are victims of abuse, neglect or trauma. During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, we gave 800 bears to the children's advocacy center, the american red cross, valley medical center pediatrics, family supportive housing and parisi house.

Assist a shelter this program supports three shelters: provided 720 monthly dinners at family supportive housing for families in residence, 40 dozen cookies for school lunch boxes and after school treats, 250 books for children and young adults, 74 quilts, and 37 target gift cards. The chapter brought in enrichment programs which featured trained birds, a science program , and an arts and crafts workshop. In october, chapter volunteers operated a halloween shop for families to select their costumes, and in december we wrapped christmas presents that the children had chosen for their parents. Members volunteering at cityteam spent three 2-hour sessions per month packing thousands of lunches for distribution to the underserved families and homeless population that the shelter serves. Chapter members also donated 1,023 toiletry kits for cityteam to distribute. At parisi house on the hill, a facility for young mothers who are addicted to alcohol or drugs, chapter members provided a monthly story hour in both english and spanish for the children along with lessons in baby sign language. The chapter also donated 54 quilts, 58 layettes, 273 children's books, various toiletry items and both women's and children clothing. The chapter also provided a motivational speaker who made a very positive impression on the young mothers.

Bingo program the purpose of this program is to brighten the lives of seniors in two residential treatment centers by operating monthly bingo games and providing meaningful prizes for every player. In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, 100 gift bags were given out and 20 bingo sessions were held with 354 prizes awarded.

Screening eyes early the purpose of this program is to detect vision problems, particularly amblyopia (lazy eye), in preschool children. During 2023-2024 fiscal year, the chapter screened 498 children ages 3-5 at 17 preschools, referring 27 for complete eye exams.