OUR LAGUNA: Assistance League offers many ways to help

The Assistance League of Laguna Beach does just that — assist. Members identify, develop, implement and fund ongoing projects to meet the specific needs of the community.

Now the chapter is looking for assistance. New members who want to help carry out the projects that significantly affect our lives will be welcomed. And long-time members might want to consider changing their commitment.

“I was in the professional group for six years, but when I retired a year ago December, I became an active member,” said Carrie Joyce, whose voice was the first one folks heard when they called the fire department for non-emergencies.

“A member who goes to my church always said, ‘Just wait until you become active — we have so much more fun.’ Now that I am retired I can do things during the day and I like working with the women. They are just fantastic.”

Joyce was already familiar with the Assistance League because her mother was a member in her hometown of Santa Paula, one of the 115 chapters of the league.

The Laguna Beach chapter was founded in 1952 by 14 women, “Las Amigas,” who banded together to serve the community. By 1956, the group had 50 members and in 1962 was chartered as an official chapter of the league.

In need of funds for their projects, the group opened the first Turnabout Thrift Shop in October 1953 on Coast Highway. The current shop at 556 Glenneyre St. was built in 1961, followed by the construction in 1974 of the Chapter House on Catalina Street.

Proceeds from the shop sales and other projects fund the group’s philanthropies, including School Bell, which provides stocked backpacks and jackets for about 200 children in the Boys and Girls Club’s Even Start program and Head Start locations in neighboring communities; and Chapters for Children, which distributed 325 Payless Shoe vouchers and two pairs of socks to children who live on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base.

Chapter members who participated included Norma McKibban, Kathy Fellows, Marcy Horenstein, Peggy Long, Chris Bolton, Diane Gelfer, Betty Groves, Charlotte Graham, Karen Stevens, Joyce Dinnage and Joan and Gary Carlson.

The chapter also budgets for special needs in local schools or disasters such as the Bluebird Canyon slide, to which the chapter donated $10,000 and free access to the Turnabout Shop for displaced families. Other projects: high school and community college scholarships; Hug-A-Bear donations to the Fire Department and the Community Clinic for children in crisis; volunteering at the Youth Center in Laguna Beach; and the chapter’s hallmark project, the Early Intervention Program, begun in 1976 to benefit developmentally delayed infants and their families.

Parent participation is the key to the success of the program. Professional therapists teach parents developmental stimulation exercises for their babies and offer counseling.

The program is growing by “leaps and bounds” according to Ann Hyde, now in the second year of her term as chapter president.

In her October message to members, Hyde said there were 18 babies on the wait list, with a project in the “wind” to accommodate them.

The latest chapter project is support for the Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano’s program for disabled children, which a group of members toured in December.

“We were able to see the students from the R.H. Dana Exceptional Needs Facility participate in their riding lessons — ALLB funds this program,” reported Ginny Skelton, chapter vice president in charge of philanthropy.

But the chapter does more than raise funds. For instance, Judy Soulaskis heads the Knot of Love, a group that knits chemotherapy caps for cancer patients and while parents attend EIP support group meetings, chapter members care for their babies

In one year alone, volunteers donated approximately 23,000 hours to holding babies, staffing the Turnabout Shop, stuffing and delivering backpacks, and entertaining seniors, among other worthwhile projects, according to Michelle Higgins, a past president.

“I like the hands-on approach,” Joyce said. “And it doesn’t take that much time. Regular members commit to working three times a year in the EIP and two, three-hour shifts a month in the Turnabout Shop.”

Gayle Whitaker, who has been a member of the chapter since 2002, was introduced to the league by a friend.

“That’s how most of us joined,” said Whitaker, who is vice president in charge of the Turnabout Shop, a two-year commitment.

“We are seeing an upturn in shoppers, probably due to the economy,” Whitaker said. “People still need to shop and we offer gently-used everything.”

Donations are accepted from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, closed the month of August.

On Saturdays, members of the chapter’s Assisteens Auxiliary help staff the shop. Hours are counted toward the Laguna Beach High School community service requirement for graduation.

The teen auxiliary was started in 2000. Activities include hosting bingo for seniors, family adoptions in at the holidays, decorating the chapter’s entry in the Patriots Day Parade, and stuffing socks with hygiene products for Friendship Shelter. For more information, call (949) 494-6097.

Los Niños Auxiliary sponsors an annual tennis tournament to raise funds for the Early Intervention Program. In January, Los Ninos presented the chapter with a $38,000 check, the biggest donation ever. This year, Los Niños celebrates the 20th anniversary of the tournament

Other fundraisers include Chapter House rents and sales of the chapter’s “Laguna Heritage Cookbook” — I bought a copy of it before I even knew that my 1906 home is pictured on the Soup introduction page. The Ron May family sponsors the Liam Charity Golf Tournament to benefit the chapter. The tournament is named for May’s late son, who was an EIP baby.

If you don’t play golf or tennis and don’t have the inclination join the chapter, be a shopper or a donor.

Here’s a sample of what your money can do: $4 pays for an empty backpack — add a buck and a child in crisis will get a teddy bear for comfort; $13 buys a shoe voucher for a needy student and $15 buys a jacket. Craft supplies for youth shelter projects can be bought with a $20 donation; a backpack filled with school supplies, socks and underwear has a $35 price tag.

A $50 donation supplies diapers, wet wipes and tissues for a month in the EIP; $60 pays for clothing and supplies to one of the Chapters for Children recipients. Glasses and an eye exam for a child will be paid by a $135 donation and $120 — that’s $10 a month, take a bus downtown one day and save the parking fee — pays for one EIP session.

A New Members Coffee will be from 10 a.m. to noon March 23. For more information, call the Chapter House at (949) 494-6097 and leave a message or contact Membership Vice President Joan Schnitter at jckasman@hotmail.com (949) 951-9001.

Happy Bikeday

“Lu has done it again,” boasted Laguna artist Lu Campbell’s husband, John. “On Feb. 21, we rode 77 miles [on bicycles] to commemorate her 77 years of life. Not bad for someone also fighting lung cancer.

“We started from our office [John Campbell Insurance] on Forest Avenue and rode down Coast Highway to the Santa Ana River Trail and then up along the Santa Ana River, past Angel Stadium, past Kaiser Hospital, to almost the 241 and 91 freeways near the Green River Golf Course and then back to Laguna.

“We were a little tuckered out after this ride, even though we have done many 100-mile rides, AKA Century Rides.”

Near the end of the ride the birthday girl was dragging a little.

“But with only 12 miles to go, she wasn’t going to give up and we made it,” Campbell said. “I just thought you would be interested in this story.”

Me and all of Lu’s admirers.

OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, 92652; call (949) 380-4321 or e-mail coastlinepilot@latimes.com.