Assistance League of Phoenix Arizona, Inc.

Assistance League of Phoenix seeks to improve the lives of children in our community through philanthropic programs that fulfill basic needs, foster self-esteem and enhance quality of life. As highlighted in the Vision 2025 report from The Center for the Future of Arizona, one in five Arizonans lives in poverty, and the current poverty rate among children under 18 in Arizona is at 25.6%, almost 4% higher than the national average. That translates to thousands of children in Phoenix that need our help. We believe that parents should not have to choose between paying for essentials such as rent, milk or gas and purchasing clothing for their children or layettes for newborns. Yet sometimes those choices are very real for parents living at or below the poverty level. Assistance League of Phoenix works to serve our community in need by providing clothing, shoes, books and more to disadvantaged children who need our help.

Our mission statement guides six philanthropic programs which touch the lives of thousands of children each year. Our programs serve low-income and disadvantaged children in need by providing new school uniforms through our signature program Operation School Bell®, symphony field trips, children's books for Title I schools through Operation School Bell, Birthday Book Corner, and the Book Gifts Project, teddy bears for children in crisis through HUGS, and layettes for newborns born into poverty through the Wee Help program.

We are a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization, serving the Greater Phoenix community since 1961. Last year 230 members gave 26,858 volunteer hours, equaling the work of 13 full-time employees. We are pleased to say that 100% of Board Members, Advisory Council Members, employees, and Member Volunteers give financially -- and all do so without any requirements. Assistance League of Phoenix has an exceptional track record for providing services to children in our community that are most in need. With over a 90% return to the community, Assistance League of Phoenix operates efficiently to allow grant dollars to be maximized in our programs. During the 2014-2015 school year, Assistance League of Phoenix volunteers distributed over 57,000 units of service (including uniforms, layettes, books, teddy bears and more) to disadvantaged children in the Greater Phoenix area. Every penny donated is put back into our community to improve the lives of children.

Assistance League of Phoenix has accomplished so much in its first 55 years, growing from a 100% volunteer organization to a fiscally strong and capable non-profit with 4 staff members and a volunteer base of over 200 members. Partnering with local businesses to engage employee volunteers has increased capacity and allowed us to broaden our reach in the community each year, serving more children in need.

In 2013, a retrofitted bus turned into a mobile dressing area allowed us to greatly increase the number of children served through our signature program Operation School Bell and currently 64% of all children served are reached through our Delivering Dreams Bus. We are currently working to make improvements to the bus that will allow us to dress more children at each school visit, increasing the total number of children served by 30% in the next school year.