Things will be different
When we hit the pause button in March 2020 as the coronavirus alarmed our community and nation, I’m not sure anyone understood the challenges ahead. In the year ahead, we will need to adapt to lower revenue from our Thrift Shop, stiff competition for grant monies and increased community demands for our programs. Also, the safety of our member volunteers, program recipients, and customers will be a top priority.
Last year our organization explored change management, staying relevant and adapting to local needs. No one expected this level of change, but here we are.
Assistance League is unique because it is member driven and member governed. With dedication and caring concern, our member volunteers strive to assist our community’s at risk students with philanthropic programs that clothe, feed, educate and mentor.
Financially we will continue to pursue grants from those interested in supporting our mission. Our large Thrift Shop is not only our main source of funding for our programs but is a visible way for us to support our community. As unemployment soars, our quality goods and the committed service from our member volunteers, will continue to be available to those in need.
As we resume the operations of our Center, Thrift Shop and programs, we look to make an impact and assure you our return to the community will be strong and united.
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Laura Gallagher
2019-2020 President
Assistance League of Charlotte
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During the Covid-19 Pandemic, we remained committed to serving the needs of children in poverty in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. We are maintaining contact with our school liaison and modifying and updating our delivery procedures. Counselors/Social workers will identify students who will benefit from our programs and the staff will shop at our Center for those students. We will provide uniform pants and shirts, as well as coats, underwear, socks, hygiene supplies, shoes and books.
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Operation Check Hunger had a very productive year despite a pandemic. During the school year OCH was able to provide funding for backpacks, sponsored mobile pantries with our best numbers yet on individuals served and provided assistance for in-school pantries. After the lockdown associated with the Covid-19 Pandemic, OCH continued to provide support to the children of Mecklenburg County Schools with extra funding for backpacks and financial support for mobile pantries although our volunteers were unable to attend. Additionally, extra funding for OCH at the end of the year enabled us to fund a large protein donation
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Heart of the Home
Assistance League of Charlotte’s newest philanthropic program, Heart of the Home, was launched this year. The purpose of the Heart of the Home program is to provide a family moving into permanent housing small electrical appliances and other kitchen items necessary to prepare, cook, serve, and store food for meals. Generally, home cooked meals are less expensive to prepare than fast food and more nutritious. Each new homeowner received over 20 new kitchen items and their choice of three electrical appliances. In partnership with Habitat for Humanity, Assistance League provided these new items to 16 families moving into their new Habitat homes this past year. Evaluations received from the new homeowners were very favorable for this program, and the Heart of the Home Committee is looking forward to continuing this program
in 2020-2021.
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Scholarships
ALC Scholarships
With the implementation of Survey Monkey Apply, Scholarship was able to have all aspects of our application process online from our candidates filling out their applications, to school counselors and others completing recommendations, to committee members reviewing and scoring, to follow-up and awards, making for an impressively streamlined and efficient workflow. For the first time, we even held interviews and award presentations by Zoom and were also featured on the CFNC website with more exposure to students in our area.
Community Scholarships
Through Assistance League Community Scholarships, we enabled hundreds of children with limited means to enrich their lives with music lessons, art classes, literacy and reading instruction, group performance experiences and YMCA summer day camp attendance. We also provided scholarships to the Community Culinary School of Charlotte.
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Tate Blackburn,
Recipient of Assistance League of Charlotte's $12,000 Scholarship
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Tate Blackburn is a 2020 graduate of South Mecklenburg High School, where he not only excelled at academics, but was a valued member of the cross-country team, worked a part-time job as an event coordinator and shift leader at Clean Juice, and was the devoted president of the El Cid Chapter of the National Spanish Honor Society.
Through a Spanish-language volunteer tutoring initiative, Tate developed a zeal for his English-learning peers, and intends to incorporate that passion into his studies at UNC-Chapel Hill by double-majoring in Hispanic Linguistics and Nutrition/Biochemistry. These majors will manifest into Tate’s future career of clinical medicine, and eventually working with Doctors Without Borders, where he can use his Spanish-speaking expertise to touch the Latino communities in the US and beyond.
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Mecklenburg County Teen Court
A Year of Educational and Mentoring Opportunities!
Despite being cut short by the pandemic this year, MCTC was filled with educational opportunities for both teens and adults. A record number of teen attorneys were trained. A slowdown in case referrals mid-year afforded a court night to provide advanced attorney training, Stop & Think classes for defendants, and a Discovery Workshop focused on positive peer influence for all jurors. Our adults participated in several local and state conferences, and a CMPD officer shared his perspective at a membership meeting. The year culminated in a jointly organized 2020 Mock Trial Boot Camp hosted by Gaston County. The event provided teen attorneys job-specific training and a forum to demonstrate proficiencies in public speaking, critical thinking, and persuasive arguments in front of family and friends. Notably, a newly trained MCTC teen won best defense attorney, a testament to the value of mentoring taking place in this program. All this was accomplished while still assisting 157 youthful offenders to take responsibility for their actions and maintaining a lower than 5% recidivism rate. Teens helping teens...it works!
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Transforming Lives • Strengthening Community
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Assistance League of Charlotte | 704-525-5228
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