Sally Nichols was installed at the new President of Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga in May.  Vice Presidents for the upcoming year include:  Barbara Alioto, Patty Thomas, Susan Buxton, Chris Lawrence, and Bernie Luongo-Hoye.

The 120 volunteers of the local chapter of Assistance League volunteer thousands of hours each year in local schools providing literacy, tutoring, STEAM training, science camp scholarships, experiences in growing a garden, as well as new jackets and shoes. At-risk new mothers and their babies get a better start in life when they receive much-needed new-baby items including cribs, diapers and clothes.  And, the frail elderly at the Saratoga Adult Day Care Center are treated to hot, nutritious lunches prepared by volunteers four days each week.
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With a goal of transforming lives and strengthening our local communities for over 15 years, the new Board of Directors will direct the philanthropic programs and raise the funds in the coming year. If you are interested in joining this active group, fill out the contact form on our JOIN US page.

In May, Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga awarded the annual Ada Laughlin Award to Doris Agee for her quiet, dedicated and outstanding service to our chapter.
         
Doris is an “unsung hero” because she enjoys working behind the scenes, faithfully supporting many of the chapter’s philanthropic programs. She’s a reader in the Literacy Program and she’s cheerfully purchased many items for the Hygiene Kits given to students. She has worked diligently to provide baby bundles and a variety of necessities to the young moms and their babies in the Family Program.  You can find her frequently in the garden at Monroe Middle School working with students or at the Saratoga Adult Day Care Center where she helps prepare hot, nutritious lunches for the frail elderly. 
         
The Ada Laughlin Award was named after one of the two founders of Assistance League --- Ada Edwards Laughlin.  After graduating from Stanford and moving to Los Angeles Ada Laughlin joined Anne Banning in the early 1900’s to begin helping those most in need after the San Francisco 1906 earthquake. From their beginnings, Assistance League grew to be a national organization of over 23,000 volunteer members.
         
​Doris Agee ideally exemplifies Ada Laughlin with her dedicated support of so many of our programs serving the local community.  As our 2019 Ada Laughlin Award recipient, we salute her!

What better combination for today’s students than a scientist/engineer who is also a children’s author?  Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga hosted Emily Calandrelli, children’s author and The Space Gal, and she presented two assemblies for students at schools in Campbell Union School District on Wednesday, January 9, 2019.
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In support of Assistance League’s programs providing STEM and Literacy training to students, Calandrelli talked with the students about careers in engineering and science as well as her experiences on TV and working as a children’s book author.  She answered important questions for students:  Even not smart kids can succeed and it is important to conquer your fears instead of letting them conquer you. And she explained her experience on “The Vomit Comet.”

Calandrelli has written 5 children’s books about Ada Lace who is a third grade scientist and inventor extraordinaire. Assistance League is donating 30 copies of each of Calandrelli’s five books to Rosemary and Blackford Schools. Calandrelli reached over 900 students with her talks, many of whom live at our below the poverty line in Silicon Valley.

Calandrelli is Executive Producer and Emmy nominated host of FOX’s Xploration Outer Space and chief correspondent on Netflix’s show, Bill Nye Saves the World. 
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In the past 15 years Assistance League has returned $1 million to our community utilizing 250,000 volunteer hours to serve 110,000 clients.  Most of the clients are elementary age children who live at or below the poverty line with some homeless In addition to reading to students monthly and providing hands-on experiences in STEM, volunteers tutor kindergarteners and first graders, provide warm coats and gift cards for new shoes and teach students how to plant and grow a garden.  

Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga celebrates 15 years of service in our local community this month. 
 
In those 15 years we have served 110,000 individuals, donated 250,000 volunteer hours, and returned $1 Million to the Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, and West San Jose communities. 

Our 120 dedicated volunteers work in local schools reading to and tutoring students, distributing dictionaries, providing warm coats and jackets, and giving science camp scholarships. Our two newest school programs help middle school students in their school gardens and provide STEM training to elementary school students through literature and hands-on engineering activities.

Working with the Santa Clara County Public Health Nurses, we provide new moms and their babies who live below the poverty level with diapers, baby bundles, cribs, and other necessities to help them have a better start in life.
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We also cook and serve a hot, nutritious lunch for the frail elderly at the Saratoga Adult Day Care Center four days each week as well as manage an Assisteens program for high school students to give back to the community.

Almost 16 years ago, Campbell Union School District started a program to recognize the writing skills of students in grades 3-7.  Every year, the top two students selected from each school, and from among hundreds of entries, are honored with a Rising Young Author Award.  

This year’s 14 recipients, and newly published authors, were celebrated for their accomplishments in writing a wide variety of titles.  One student from Capri School wrote a mystery titled “Uninvited Guests” while a student from Monroe Middle School wrote a book of poems, simply called “Poems”.  Other students wrote about their love of cats, the life of a sloth, vampires, mythology and a true story about the loss of a special dog titled “The Sad Ending”.  

Almost 120 family and friends attended this event at Barnes & Noble in San Jose to honor the newest group of young writers.  As part of the evening, each student received a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble from our chapter to help continue their love of books and the printed word.  
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As one student said, “...if you want to write a story, just do it!”  Sounds like this experience also builds confidence - a sure step to future success.  

​Recently our chapter hosted its annual baby shower luncheon to support new moms and their babies in the Santa Clara County Nurse Family Partnership program.  Each attendee brought a gaily bagged gift for a baby boy or girl between 12 and 24 months. 
 
The Nurse Family Partnership (NFP), comprised of eight nurses, provides about 200 low income, young women with an opportunity to get a better start with their little ones.  The luncheon featured nurses who work directly with these first-time moms and their babies. They spoke of their personal experiences in providing a host of services during the moms 2 ½ year program with NFP.  A graduation ceremony is held to honor these new moms upon completion of their program and to recognize their efforts to improve their life and nurture their now 2 year old child. 
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The nurses acknowledged with gratitude ALLGS project to set up and fully equip a new lactation room for the new moms. The room truly is a welcome respite for both mom, baby, and toddler with  a rocking chair, an area rug, shelving, along with  brightly colored foam floor tiles, a child’s table and chair set for toddlers.
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About 70 members and guests attended and provided gifts for the clients served through NFP.  Throughout the year, the ALLGS volunteers also supports NFP with baby bundles, emergency items and holiday gifts to support their clients.  

​Barbara Weber was honored with the Ada Laughlin Award by Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga for her dedicated service to helping transform lives in our local community.  The Award, presented by last year’s recipient Linda Krain, is given annually to an outstanding member for her work in many areas. 
 
Barbara is active in The Family Program, Senior Cooking, STEAM, Literacy, Tutoring, and the Gardening programs of our chapter. She has a gentle way of asking for what she needs and always offers a compliment and gracious thank you.  Her continual dedication to the clients Assistance League serves since 2011 when she joined make her a superb candidate for this year’s special Award.

Karen Azzi of Saratoga was installed as President for Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga for the coming year.  She will lead the organization as it provides its 15th year of service to our local communities. This Board is dedicated to enriching lives and strengthening the community through its strong teamwork and clear goals.   

Other board members elected include Gladie Rabitz, Janet Jacobson, Marilyn Cosden, Dru Barth, and Terri Spice of Los Gatos. Board members from San Jose are Joan Duncan, Susan Scharlach, Carol Premo, Kathy Kelley, and Karen Maxwell.  Susan Levine is from Sunnyvale.

Last year the Los Gatos-Saratoga Chapter of Assistance League provided programs for over 3,500 students living at or below the poverty line in Los Gatos, Campbell Union, Moreland, and Luther Burbank School Districts including warm jackets, new shoes, and books to take home and keep, partial scholarships to Science Camp, dictionaries, and one-on-one tutoring for students behind their peers.

Two new programs were introduced last year. Volunteers in the Garden offered middle schoolers the opportunity to grow vegetables in their school garden and then taste their crops as they learned about nutrition and farm to table concepts.  STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) offered kindergartners through 5th graders hands on engineering experience to encourage their interest in these areas as well as to develop key engineering concepts.  

Members and donors are always needed to help the organization expand and grow. 

Understanding the critical importance for students to be well versed in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) in Silicon Valley in order to succeed, Assistance League Los Gatos-Saratoga launched a pilot program this year to bring STEAM projects into elementary classrooms.
         
A dozen volunteers meet with students at Rosemary School on Tuesday mornings to read a story focused on STEAM activities and then direct and guide students through completing a project on their own.  The first project was focused on Rosie Revere Engineer, and using the engineering design process, each of the over 300 students reached had the opportunity to construct their own paper helicopter and then test how it flew.
         
In the spring students will hear the story of Iggy Peck Architect, and then working in teams will decide how to create the highest possible “building” using index cards. By the end of the pilot year of the project over 1,000 students in kindergarten through grade 5 will have had the opportunity to participate in STEAM projects.
      
In addition to classroom work, Assistance League Los Gatos-Saratoga also provided funding for 12 teachers in CUSD to attend a STEAM learning conference designed to increase their knowledge of how to teach STEAM to their students.