Assistance League of Diablo Valley Celebrates 50 Years of “Caring and Commitment”

One of more than 120 chapters, Assistance League^® of Diablo Valley is a nonprofit, member volunteer organization dedicated to improving lives in our community through hands-on programs. March 8, 2017 marked its 50th anniversary with members and community dignitaries celebrating a history rich in achievement and well deserved pride at the Clubhouse at Boundary Oak, in Walnut Creek.

Chapter President Lesley Salo offered a concise history from chartering in 1967 to today, that included transition from required guild status to that of chapter. Initially, the 75 members met in each other’s homes, but in 1970, Assistance League of Diablo Valley found its new home in an old farmhouse owned by the City of Walnut Creek, at the corner of Second and Buena Vista Avenues.

Virginia Swanberg, a member since 1976, continued the timeline through the 1970s by describing the challenges that the small structure presented, two of which concerned inadequate space and plumbing issues. What many would have considered labor intensive emerged as a labor of love for the Assistance League of Diablo Valley member volunteers, undaunted and innovative.

Former Presidents Arlita Smith, Joan Siltanen and Chris Noble each addressed events of subsequent decades, all of which followed the Assistance League philosophy of meeting the needs of the community while not duplicating existing services. In the early 1970s, Information & Referral, a search that assisted our community’s vulnerable, was the first of the organization’s philanthropic programs. In 1974, the End-of-the-Lane Thrift Shop opened as the chapter’s primary fundraiser. In 1977, Assisteens^® Auxilary mentored teens when giving back to the community.

After much debate, the chapter purchased a historic building in Lafayette and by 1980, Assistance League of Diablo Valley opened The Way Side Inn Thrift Shop & Costume Rental, a well-known landmark in Lafayette. The 1980’s also witnessed the debut of The Kids on the Block and Buena Vista Auxiliary.

The 1990’s ushered in the dedication of a new headquarters building on the same site as the old farmhouse. In addition, the organization initiated Operation School Bell^®, a nationally acclaimed program created to improve school performance, that continues to provide clothing for elementary schoolchildren through on-site sizing and retail shopping venues. The 1990s concluded with the purchase of the Annex located next to the chapter house, and the expansion of the Way Side Inn Thrift Shop. Welcome Home Layettes and Scholarships philanthropic programs, along with the dedication of the New Annex expansion, 80% of which was donated, added to the legacy of community involvement.

The 21^st century witnessed additional philanthropic programs, specifically Foresight, Show on the Road and R.E.A.D., as well as reconfigured existing programs, all determined by the needs our community.

While history chronicles such events, an overlay of significant achievements defines an organization. Featured at one of the Lesher Speaker Series, selected for the Independent Charities Seal of Excellence and the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Contra Costa Council, acknowledged for its Corporate Partners component, appropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, lauded for its Verde Outreach Project in Richmond, and thrice designated by the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Ball have catapulted Assistance League of Diablo Valley, now numbering 500 members, toward another half century of “Caring and Commitment.”

To learn more about Assistance League of Diablo Valley, please visit this website: diablovalley.assistanceleague.org.