Assistance League Of Huntington Beach

Mission: Assistance League volunteers transforming the lives of children and adults through community programs Vision: Essential needs are met in our communities and families flourish

Assistance League® of Huntington Beach was established as a guild in 1941 and chartered in 1950 as a chapter of National Assistance League®. There are 120 chapters of Assistance League nationwide. The mission of Assistance League of Huntington Beach is to improve the lives of children and adults in our community with emphasis on basic needs, education, and self-esteem. The chapter house is located at 8071 Slater Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA and is home to the Thrift Shop, meeting rooms and offices. Assistance League of Huntington Beach has over 300 members including our DreamCatchers and Assisteens® auxiliaries. Our members raise and manage chapter and auxiliary funds, maintain the chapter house and provide member volunteers for chapter and auxiliary programs. The member volunteers fully staff all of the programs. Last 2022-2023 fiscal year, 58,637 volunteer hours were spent during Assistance League of Huntington Beach activities. While some work is contracted out (landscaping, maintenance, some bookkeeping, etc.) There are no employed staff. The chapter, including auxiliaries, now has fifteen philanthropic programs that serve the needs of Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Westminster. Operation School Bell® is the chapter’s largest philanthropic program. Other key chapter and auxiliary programs are: Operation New Beginnings, Operation New Beginnings-Veterans Resource Center and Veteran & Project Self Sufficiency Scholarships, Links to Learning,  Golden West College Nursing Student Scholarships, Support our Seniors and Scholars' Hope, (a program providing college scholarships for graduating disadvantaged or at-risk students who participated in that program through the Oak View School and Ocean View High School areas). In 2022-23 there were approximately 10,245 community members served through all of our chapter and auxiliary Philanthropic programs. Approximate total goods and services returned to the Community equaled $801,590.00.

Top 3-5 Accomplishments
1. Membership of 74 years in National Assistance League; working for 83 years in the Huntington Beach, Westminster & Fountain Valley communities.
2. A 100% all-volunteer organization, over 300 members, no employed staff. Debt-free facility that is the site for our Thrift Shop, Boutique, Craig's List and Amazon Books Services, as well as meeting room and offices.
3.In fiscal year 2022-23, returned over $801,590 in goods or services through our 14 (now 15 in 2023-2024) philanthropic programs; realized over $721,000 in revenue through our Thrift Shop & Boutique retail & online operation, and an additional revenue of $103,000 from our annual fundraiser..
4. Fifteen outstanding Philanthropic Programs! (5 listed here):*Operation School Bell® (OSB) clothed 1965 very low income and homeless students in our 3 communities, where over 17,000 students qualified in a non-Covid pandemic year for OSB services. *Operation New Beginnings (ONB) Basic program  provided clothing from our Thrift Shop, Boutique, and through gift cards for Target & from gift cards provided by Albertsons Markets to 238 qualified adults and children from 13 community agencies. *Operation New Beginnings Scholarships + Veterans Resource Center (supplies for over 240 veterans totaling $14,171.00)); 31 Veteran & Criminal Justice Scholarships at Golden West & Coastline Community Colleges and 7 Project Self Sufficiency scholarships totaling $136,600. *Links to Learning program volunteers reviewed and approved 141 applications from teachers and administrators for grant awards, amounting to $67,904 related to classroom needs, technology or enrichment activities. This program includes K-8th grade teachers in the 3 communities served by ALHB. * The Nursing Scholarships program affiliated with Golden West Community College reviewed applications and awarded 80 scholarships totaling $126,000.00.
Top 3-5 Top Goals
1. ALHB will strive to maintain and/or increase the number of schoolchildren clothed and aided through Operation School Bell, working with district liaisons to identify any needs beyond clothing/shoes.
2.Increase the number of scholarships offered to Golden West Community College (GWC) and Coastline Community College veterans in the Veterans & Criminal Justice program, to low-income students in the GWC Nursing program, and to high-achieving, at-risk teens (Scholars' Hope) and struggling single parents (PSS Program) from our 3 local cities.
3. Increase our revenue via Sponsorships, Major Donors and Grants.
4. Update our chapter's Technology capabilities/programs, including our social media outreach, as well as educational opportunities for our volunteer members.
5. Review all of our Philanthropic Programs and contracts with our direct liaisons to ensure we are meeting the recipients most urgent/current needs as best as our volunteers and funds are able.

1. Utilization of our National Chapter's contracted Board and Member training sessions and tools, complete the upgrade of our technology services as well as membership in-house training to achieve improved communication (internally and externally).
2. Operation School Bell (OSB), envisions a goal of clothing and/or aiding more than the 14% eligible by income in our 5 school districts in 2023-2024. In addition to two Target stores, a new contract was formed with JC Penney's in Westminster. We will also be working with our school district liaisons to identify potential additional needs (beyond clothing/shoes).
3. Goal: Increase Fund Development Committee efforts, seeking sponsorships and grants income to improve ability to serve those in need in our communities.
4. Challenges remain in reopening and staffing our Thrift Shop for more hours, now open only 3 days per week, with an eventual goal of four days/week. Our customer base is quite strong and revenues from the Shop remain steady and healthy enough to support our programs, although at a slightly lower percentage than years past when we were open for five shopping days.
-Our major spring Treasures by the Sea Fundraiser in March 2024 was considered successful in that ticket prices were kept relatively low, attendance was up from the prior year, was held in our own facility, there was inclusion of our Sponsors & Major Donors, Merchandise and Food service were high quality. There was excellent community/marketing outreach and a decent Net Profit. This was followed by a S.W.O.T. analysis completed by the Co-Chairs and Board oversight members to serve as a guidepost for detailed discussions of what type of Fundraiser (or fundraisers) should be managed going forward.

Cities of Huntington Beach (92647, 92649, 92683), Fountain Valley( 92646, 92708) & Westminster (92644, 92647, 92655, 92683) California

Serving the three communities of Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Westminster for 74 years, the Assistance League of Huntington Beach is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and adults in our community through our several programs. The Philanthropic programs we have selected to support are "hands on" and community-based, respond to local needs and are reviewed for their continuing value on a regular basis. Our chapter's and auxiliary's 15 philanthropic programs offer over 300 volunteers the power to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged families, low-income single parents, seniors, school children and college-bound students. As with other chapters of Assistance League, we come together to serve the needs and challenges of our communities with programs that are locally inspired, member organized and brought to fruition with designated member communities. We strive to keep expenses down so that the majority of revenue earned and contributed to our chapter benefits our three communities through our programs.