About the Nonprofit
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Assistance League of Fullerton (ALF) is an 82-year-old organization that has operated continuously in Fullerton, while also serving surrounding communities. Our mission is “Assistance League volunteers transforming the lives of children and adults through community programs.”
We have no paid staff. All officers are elected from our membership; officers make up the Board. We own and operate a thrift shop in downtown Fullerton, and 85% of our funds derive from thrift shop sales. In 2020-21, ALF’s members volunteered over 32.3 thousand hours and served 7.5 thousand people in North Orange County. Volunteer service includes fundraising, working in our thrift shop, and working directly with children and other patrons. This volunteer group is composed of retired people with a median age of about 65 years.
Our largest philanthropy is the Operation School Bell (OSB) program. OSB provides new clothing for children in elementary schools (K-5), middle schools (grades 6-8), and junior highs (grades 7-8) located in our service area in North Orange County (Fullerton, Brea, Buena Park, La Habra, Placentia, & Yorba Linda, CA). As funding permits, we also provide school clothing for homeless students in Fullerton high schools. Schools refer students living below the poverty level. This year marks the 30th year Assistance League of Fullerton has been supporting the Operation School Bell program in our community.
As a community service since 1985, Assistance League of Fullerton annually sponsors a vision screening program for elementary, public, parochial school children, and students from a continuation high school. These screenings take place at the school sites in the communities of Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, and Yorba Linda. Assistance League of Fullerton contracts with the Ketchum University, School of Optometry, Fullerton, to perform the screenings each school year. Assistance League of Fullerton also contracts with community optometrists and ophthalmologists to provide additional screening free of charge for referred children who do not have the ability to pay for specialty vision services. Assistance League of Fullerton provides financial help for lenses and frames.
Our other philanthropies include:
Operation New Start (providing clothing from the thrift shop and new household items for homeless families and/or women and children leaving abusive environments)
Foster Youth Success Initiative/Fullerton College (providing thrift shop items to college-age foster students and their families)
La Vista High School (providing scholarships and hosting receptions at the school upon request)
Santa’s Closet (providing $30 gift certificates to our thrift shop at the holidays for poor families)
Healthy Neighborhoods (supporting after-school tutoring and arts enrichment for children in a very poor Fullerton area)
Meals on Wheels (providing office space and utilities for the local program)
