Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s Operation School Bell Teams With Wells Fargo Employee Volunteers During United Way’s Week of Caring

Fargo Employee Volunteers During United Way’s Week of Caring

Assistance League® of Diablo Valley is a nonprofit, member volunteer organization dedicated to improving lives in our community through eight hands-on programs and two auxiliaries, Assisteens® and Buena Vista.  A 46 year history chronicles how its dedicated member volunteers put “Caring and Commitment into Action.”  Assistance League Way Side Inn Thrift Shop, a landmark located in Lafayette, is chapter owned and member staffed and is the chapter’s primary fundraiser. 

As a veteran member of both the local and philanthropic communities, Assistance League of Diablo Valley participated in United Way’s Week of Caring-2013, which began on September 16 and concluded on September 21.  The Week of Caring is a volunteer-based opportunity that matches a group of corporate volunteers who are eager to give back to the community with a United Way partner agency, in this case, Assistance League of Diablo Valley.  Each year, the Week of Caring promotes volunteerism to increase awareness of local human service agencies through this collaborative effort. 

On September 16, Corporate Partners Committee Chairman Lesley Salo greeted employee volunteers from Wells Fargo, Week of Caring 2013 Gold Sponsor, at Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s chapter house in Walnut Creek.  Seven represented Wells Fargo Financial Crime Operations, Concord, while six represented Wells Fargo Wealth Management Services, Pleasant Hill.  Former President Linda Mercer informed them of such chapter activities as screening preschoolers for vision and hearing issues, reading monthly and donating books to elementary school classrooms and libraries, performing educational puppet shows and providing clothes and shoes for elementary schoolchildren, awarding scholarships, gathering and boxing emergency supplies for all age groups, as well as performing musical revues for and making daily assurance calls to seniors.  United Way Representative Laura Marshall was also on hand to thank the Wells Fargo employees and Assistance League of Diablo Valley member volunteers for their joint involvement.

The volunteers then congregated in the chapter annex, where an energetic and rewarding Operation School Bell® bagging event ensued.  As a nationally acclaimed program, Operation School Bell champions the cause of children by providing them with clothing that includes one jacket, one sweatshirt, two pairs of pants for boys, two pairs of pants, or one pair of pants and one skort, or two skorts for girls, three polo shirts, six pairs of socks, a six-pack of underwear for boys, a five-pack of underwear for girls, and a shoe card from Payless.  In two hours’ time, the volunteers packaged 200 bags of clothing that will be delivered to the students at Parkside Elementary School in Pittsburg.

Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s partnering with Wells Fargo during the Week of Caring went beyond the mere bundling of inventory; it fortified community involvement by investing in its children.  Collectively, members of these three organizations left the "Operation School Bell Bagging Day" event inspired, appreciated, and evermore cognizant of their roles in helping those in our community who are in need and at risk. 

To learn more about Assistance League of Diablo Valley’s Corporate Partners Program or its eight philanthropic programs and its two auxiliaries, please visit this website: diablovalley.assistanceleague.org.  Members of the Speakers’ Bureau are also available to present our story to various organizations, free of charge. For more information about scheduling a speaker to present to your group, please remain on our website, find the About Us column on the left side of the page, and select Speakers’ Bureau.