Community
Assistance League to Mark 40 Years of Partnering on Charitable Programs
The Assistance League of Atlanta this year marks its 40th anniversary of charitable programs in the metro area. Partnering with many schools, hospitals and other nonprofits, the group serves around 50,000 people a year. And since 2016, it’s all been organized at its headquarters in Peachtree Corners.
“The organization is totally volunteer. We have no paid employees,” said Ellen Frank, the chapter’s board president. “When you realize how complex it is, it’s kind of amazing we don’t have a paid executive director or any staff.”
Known for its Attic Treasures thrift shop in Chamblee, the Atlanta group is one of 120 nationwide chapters of the California-based Assistance League. Members of the local chapter — currently numbering around 250 — pay $75 annual dues, of which $25 goes to the national organization for training, support and marketing. All chapters determine their local partnerships, but also participate in the national’s signature program, Operation School Bell, which provides school clothes to students in need.
“As you can imagine, Atlanta, as a major metropolitan area, is a contributor, a major contributor, to our efforts as a national organization,” said Matt Zarcufsky, the mother organization’s executive director. He praised the Atlanta chapter as “a group of very committed volunteers.”
A history of giving
The Assistance League’s roots date to 1890s Los Angeles and charitable work by philanthropists Anne Banning and Ada Edwards Laughlin. In 1919, they formalized their organization as the Assistance League of Southern California. The national version was organized in 1935.
Today, there are chapters in 26 states. The latest stats available, for roughly the year before the COVID-19 pandemic affected operations, showed the chapters collectively served about 1.37 million people and had about 20,000 volunteers.
The Atlanta chapter was formed in October 1982 by a group of 34 women who started with the Operation School Bell program. As a fundraiser, they sold “senior citizens’ crafts,” renting a small building in Chamblee they called the “Mouse House.”
The organization grew over time, and in the late 1990s undertook a $1.3 million capital campaign to build a thrift shop and headquarters. That opened in 2000 at 3534 Broad Street in Chamblee, which remains home to the 13,000-square-foot thrift shop – a major revenue source, according to Frank, as it pulls in about $700,000 a year.
The chapter outgrew that space as well, but had trouble finding property in Chamblee as real estate values rose. In 2016, the organization bought an office building at 6264 Crooked Creek Road in Peachtree Corners as its “Philanthropic Center.”
Programs and partnerships
Operation School Bell remains an anchor program, with students at the local Peachtree Elementary school among the recipients, as well as many DeKalb and Fulton county schools. But the chapter partners on many other programs as well, largely centered on providing some kind of needed goods like clothing and food.
The long list includes hygiene and household items for homeless people in Atlanta’s Gateway Center and Nicholas House; teddy bears for patients in Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta hospitals; work clothing and MARTA cards for women in addiction recovery at Sandy Springs-based Mary Hall Freedom House; special clothing for patients at Atlanta’s Shepherd Center rehabilitation hospital; used books for school kids and scholarships to some metro colleges.
A lot of those programs fulfill needs rooted in such social issues as poverty. The Atlanta chapter does not get involved in addressing such issues directly – “We can’t do everything,” says Frank — and also rarely runs a program itself, instead working with other groups or social workers.
“Actually, all of our programs are partnerships,” said Frank. “We are not dealing with the public on a one-to-one basis except in the thrift shop.”
But it requires a lot of work from Assistance League members, who often hand-pack care packages and other items. Membership is especially popular among retirees, said Frank, herself a former insurance adjuster who joined in 2015.
“I love it because when I retired, I wanted to volunteer, and this particular program gives me a lot of flexibility,” she said. “…There’s always something to do.”
Frank also lived in Peachtree Corners for 27 years before more recently moving to Dunwoody. “I lived there when it was still Norcross. So it was very exciting to see Peachtree Corners become a city in itself,” she said. “And of course, when that happens, a lot of changes happen for the best, especially the new shopping center and the new Town Center.”
Challenges from the pandemic
Like everyone else, the Assistance League has faced dramatic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic — increased demand for services overall and difficulty in having in-person volunteering. Frank said COVID has brought, “as our national [directors] would call it, the new norm, and the new norm is to be adaptable.”
Zarcufsky said that at the national level, the organization is looking at ways to continue providing goods to people in need in different ways. But it’s also thinking of other ways to serve or operate even the signature school programs.
“So we’re looking at opportunities to not just be charitable and provide goods, but looking at ways we can participate and engage with students in other ways like tutoring,” he said.
The local chapter had a big pivot to make with the thrift shop, which was closed for a while, then reopened with pandemic precautions. An online version was launched on eBay as well and has been a success, Frank said. In fact, she said, the shop is keeping pace with pre-COVID sales despite the turmoil.
The organization also has some changes in programs like a literacy week coming in February to Peachtree Elementary. Instead of some traditional face-to-face programming, the Assistance League is providing students with a bag containing a book, a Beanie Baby doll and some food items. The bag will encourage students to try “reading with a friend” — meaning the Beanie Baby.
The latest wave of the pandemic also affected the chapter’s plan to invite neighbors to get to know the organization through tours of the Peachtree Corners headquarters. A January tour was canceled, but the group hopes to get that rolling later this year, and also has a grant committee always seeking donations.
“And we’re always looking for members,” said Frank. “We’d love to have people come and see what we do, and you make new good friends.”
For more information, see assistanceleague.org/atlanta.
Olympian Jasmine Jones, a standout alumna of Greater Atlanta Christian School (Class of 2020), returned to her alma mater on September 12 to speak to and inspire the next generation of students there.
GAC staff interviewed Jones and also took questions from the students during a Q&A session that included every grade level.
As a member of the U.S. Olympic team and a 12-time Georgia state individual champion during her time at GAC, Jasmine’s visit was a homecoming filled with motivation and reflection. She spoke passionately to the students about the importance of perseverance, goal-setting, and embracing challenges, drawing from her journey from GAC to the University of Southern California and the global stage of the Olympics.
Jones qualified for the Paris Olympics on June 30 and made the U.S. team in women’s 400m hurdles after placing third. She went on to place fourth in the women’s 400m hurdles final at the Paris games.
Students and staff at GAC cheered Jones on during the Olympics. And they cheered her again as she took to the school’s stage to address the audience. Before and after the event, Jones posed for photos, gave high-fives and took time connect with some of GAC’s enthusiastic students and faculty.
Her words — and her accomplishments — left a powerful impression on the crowd, reminding everyone of the heights that can be achieved with dedication and faith.
For more about GACS, visit greateratlantachristian.org.
The renowned performers wowed the audience with a thrilling presentation of dance, drama and fun.
Staff, students and board members of the International Charter Academy of Georgia were given a short-but-thrilling taste of Kabuki when dancers from Miyabiya Japan stopped by the school on September 16 for a special performance.
Offering a preview of the full show they’d prepared for center stage at JapanFest 2024, the troop presented a special short section of a dance titled “Renjishi: The Two Lions.”
Considered one of the most famous pieces in Kabuki, Renjishi is known for its powerful choreography and dramatic expression. It tells the story of the relationship between a father lion and his young son. The powerful movements, dramatic expressions and percussive sound effects symbolize the passing of strength and legacy from one generation to the next.
How the show came about
Miyabiya Japan last appeared at JapanFest in 2016 to great acclaim. This year, with the excitement of their return, the performers made plans to offer a few shorter performances at other places around town in the week leading up to the festival.
Robert Johnson, an advisory board member of ICAGeorgia and a long-time friend of JapanFest and the Miyabiya troop, knew the dual-language, Japanese immersion school would be a great place for one of the shows. He helped organize the day’s demonstration and was on-hand to talk to the crowd and introduce the performers.
The performance
It was the first time having a Kabuki performance at ICAGeorgia. And, as students filed into the school’s gym, the excitement was palpable. The room was humming with happy voices before the show even began.
Johnson greeted the kids with a smile before introducing the award-winning Kabuki troop in both English and Japanese.
“This special group from Japan will be performing at JapanFest, but today they’re performing here for you,” he told the excited crowd.
He went on to explain, “Kabuki is a special form of very dramatic and traditional Japanese dance. Two dancers today will do the Lion Dance.” The youngest children in the crowd shrieked with delight when they heard the name.
“The Lion Dance is like the story of the Lion King,” he continued, “with an otousan (father) lion with a long white mane and his son with a bright red mane.”
After the short explanation of what to expect, Johnson instructed the students (and the adults in the audience) to call for the performers to come out. To the sounds of “Miyabi-ya, miyabi-ya,” from the crowd, the dancers bounded out into the room, onto the space set up for their performance. They greeted Mr. Johnson and the students before getting into the story.
An interactive experience
The show started with a brief instruction of Kabuki movements that got the audience on its feet, following the red lion’s lead. It ended with a bang of confetti that thrilled (and surprised) everyone there.
In between, the story of the two lions was beautifully expressed through the performers’ detailed costumes, traditional kumadori makeup, exaggerated expressions and dramatic movements. At times, the dancers even made their way into the audience. Students and adults alike were riveted from start to finish.
“I’m happy to have the performers come to our school,” said Junko Jones, a founding board member and CFO of ICAGeorgia. “Not all of the students will be able to go to JapanFest. So, it’s nice that they can experience Japan here.”
About ICAGeorgia
The International Charter School of Georgia is a K-6 Japanese immersion school located in Peachtree Corners. They currently have 250 students, with plans to expand the school to offer Grades 7–8 in the future.
Eighty-one of the students will sing onstage at JapanFest September 21 at 1pm. This will be school’s sixth time performing at the festival, having been there every year since the school opened. The students also performed at the state capital in January for Japan Day.
For more information about ICAGeorgia, visit internationalcharteracademy.org.
For more about JapanFest and Miyabiya Japan, visit japanfest.org
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