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.
A highly resourceful group of 27 Assistance League members annually helps more than 1,100 St. Louisans deal with everything from food insecurity to homelessness. And with COVID 19 case numbers spiking in the St. Louis area, the need for Assistance League’s Outreach Program has grown—with the case load tripling in recent weeks.
“Our program aims to address the total spectrum---to respond to the needs of the entire family or of individuals when they need help most,” said Outreach Program Chair Terri Spink. The members of Assistance League’s Outreach Program Committee regularly reach out to social workers in St. Louis city and county to offer help when their clients must flee their homes because of abuse or when their families experience food insecurity, eviction or are burned out.
Multiple agencies also turn to the Outreach Program for a range of needs. The program supplies everything from kits full of personal care items and nutritional treats to motivate students at Lift for Life gym’s after-school programs to sleep sacks, formula, bottles and diapers for the babies of young mothers.
In 2020, Outreach also gave clothing to Mission STL, which helps families work through the cycle of poverty by offering education, skills and basic assistance. Outreach sent food to the St. Louis Public Schools’ Students in Transition Program (pictured above) helping more than 3,000 students who live in cars and temporary housing. The program also provided hygiene kits to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis for their Early Childhood (Head Start) Center. In addition, Outreach supplied bags of essential hygiene products to more than 50 homeless people in Ferguson, MO, working with A Red Circle—a North County-based non-profit focused on economic development.
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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!
Meet the People Who Help Us
