The school bell rings and Assistance League of Newport-Mesa springs to action
The Assistance League of Newport-Mesa is a one-stop shop for local Newport-Mesa Unified students and families in need of support.
Founded in 1940 in Newport Beach, the Assistance League of Newport-Mesa is just one chapter of a national nonprofit that focuses on fulfilling the needs of the children in each of its individual communities, whether it be by way of providing school supplies, food or dental health.
The local chapter is now located on Fairview Road and its operational costs are footed by the thrift store, consignment shop and dental clinic that operate below its offices.
“The whole point of the organization is to make money and it stays in the community,” Linda Colleran, the Newport-Mesa’s chapter vice president of philanthropic programs, said in an interview Wednesday.
“The money that we raise from [the shops] along with endowments and grants and any fundraising goes to support our philanthropic programs, the biggest of which is our dental center, which has been around since ... 1952.”
The chapter serves low-income families in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and, this year, as part of Operation School Bell — a nationwide program that offers uniforms, books and other school essentials at no cost to parents or children — aided 1,500 students in August alone.
That compares to the 1,000 kids typically aided throughout a complete year, Colleran said.
Colleran said about 10,000 students of the 19,000 students in the district would qualify for clothing aid.
Colleran and Newport-Mesa chapter President Barbara Fitch said the need was already growing prior to the arrival of the pandemic in early 2020, but more families affected by job loss or displacement they experienced during the past 18 months found themselves in need of a helping hand.
“We helped 1,500 kids this year, which is 50% more than last year in the same time period. That just goes to show how much of a need was here and that everybody rallied to the challenge,” Colleran said. “It was fun and exhausting.”
About 1,200 of the 1,500 students aided were in need of uniforms and the remaining 300 accepted clothing from AL’s (Assistance League’s) Closet, which aggregates the lightly used, nonuniform clothing in the organization’s thrift store that wasn’t selling at the end of each month for use by older students.
The organization also provided water bottles, earbuds, books and dental hygiene kits in August. About 110 teenage members of the League, known as Assisteens, helped in the six-day-long effort, according to Colleran.
“It’s super cute. It might only take five minutes per child, but you have this kid that you’ve kind of got a relationship with because you know what school they go to and what grade. You get a hug; it’s heartwarming,” Colleran said. “It’s heartwarming for the Assisteens.”
Last year, volunteers helped prepare bags of clothing articles and delivered them directly to schools to hand off to the students in need.
“In the old, old days, we used to do backpacks with school supplies, but there are a lot of organizations that are doing that. So, we focus on more on [clothes] and we do pencil boxes,” Fitch said.
On Wednesday, volunteers sorted through clothing donations in the Assistance League of Newport-Mesa’s main office and at the rear of the thrift store.
Fitch said the thrift store receives donations every Friday now; though prior to the pandemic, they received items nearly every day. One unexpected donation was a banjo, case and all.
Dentistry tools whirred downstairs as Dr. Greg Navarrete and Anne Wong, a volunteer and director of the Cheri Harris Dental Center, worked on what Wong said was a six-hour-long operation.
People browsed through the thrift and consignment shops while workers looked on from behind plexiglass.
“We’re trying to focus on their self-image. If they have clothing that’s new and [they] look like other people, they’ll feel more comfortable,” Fitch said of the individuals they help.
“Same with the idea of having your teeth and your smile. That’s the self-image issue we’re trying to address.”
Colleran agreed, adding that she believed students were more likely to do better in school if they felt good about themselves.
“If you feel decent inward and you look decent outward and you fit in, you’re gonna relax in school and you’re gonna pay attention and you’re gonna do better and hopefully get better grades and then be encouraged to move on,” Colleran said.
“It might seem silly, but you know what? Getting a girl to go to a prom? Or we work sometimes with youth employment services and we’ve got people that need a dress shirt to do a mock interview or an interview, we’ll say ‘Yes,’” Colleran said.
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