Members devoted to their community
Make a difference
Our member volunteers manage a variety of programs to benefit underserved populations in the St. Louis metropolitan region. Each program has a unique delivery model and focus, from new school uniforms to shoes and socks, and from personal care items for crisis shelter clients to teddy bears for comfort.
Feb. 22-28 is AL National ACTION! Week:
ALSTL Books From Friends (BFF) Celebrates Children's Literacy with a Virtual Book Festival in a Box & Character Parade
Assistance League of St. Louis Member volunteers have designed a unique Virtual Book Festival in a Box for two Urban League Head Start Programs and teachers. Inside the Box is a magical flash drive containing a video Puppet Show written and performed by the volunteers, plus 14 story time vignettes, and suggestions for classroom activities. The teachers were also given books corresponding to all the vignettes.
On Tuesday, Feb. 23 at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis' MLK Head Start Center and again on Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Urban League Magnolia Head Start/Early Head Start Center, preschoolers watched the Puppet Show and book reading on the flash drive. Then, in the school gyms, Assistance League members brought the stories alive in a costume parade dressed as book characters including Pete the Cat, Thing One and Thing Two, and the Cat in the Hat. After the parade, each child received two new age-appropriate books to take home.
In addition to the Virtual Book Festivals, Assistance League is participating in an Urban League drive-through on Feb. 27 to continue National Assistance League ACTION! Week's focus on literacy. This marks the third time ALSTL has partnered with Urban League in a drive-through and donated a total of 10,000 books. St. Louis area Girl Scouts collected and donated 3,000 of these age-appropriate, gently used and new books to ALSTL.
The creative and innovative volunteer members of Assistance League of St. Louis prove once again how to "think outside the box" with a Book Festival inside and outside the box!
Saturday, April 24, 2021
11 a.m. Virtual Presentation
Featuring Author
Alyson Richman
Assistance League is pleased to feature international best-selling author of historical novels, Alyson Richman, at our 16th annual “Virtual” Authors Brunch at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 24. Some of Richman’s best-known novels include The Lost Wife, The Velvet Hours, The Garden of Letters, The Last Van Gogh, The Rhythm of Memory and The Mask Carver's Son. Her books have been published in more than 20 languages and have received national and international acclaim.
Richman is best known for The Lost Wife, a tale of a husband and wife who are separated during World War II and reunited 60 years later at their grandchildren's wedding. Her most recent novel, The Secret of Clouds, is a touching and emotionally charged story about a deep connection between a student and his teacher. Richman describes it as “a love letter to teachers everywhere.” (Meet our author on YouTube by clicking on her photo, right.)
The event will be virtual with no charge to view, but a $50 donation will help to fund essential Assistance League programs, and donors will receive a free signed copy of The Lost Wife. Individual donations can be mailed to Assistance League Headquarters and will ensure a reserved copy of the book for each donor.
The Lost Wife and The Secret of Clouds will also be on sale soon for $16. Watch for more information coming soon!
