Membership drive continues for teens to organize charity efforts
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

ASSISTING THOSE IN NEED- Assisteens, an auxiliary of the Assistance League of Conejo Valley, organizes their own philanthropic efforts. The group consists of high school students, but many are graduating seniors, including Aloni Cohen, left, John Kopecky and Ben Schwartz.

Assisteens, an auxiliary of the Assistance League of the Conejo Valley, is ready to expand its reach and services to the community through a membership drive.

The teen group currently has 26 members from Oak Park, Agoura, Thousand Oaks, Westlake, La Reina, and Oaks Christian high schools. With several students graduating in June, the group hopes to attract up to 28 new members into the philanthropy, according to its assistant coordinator, Cheryl DiSpaltro.

Over the past two years, Assisteens has focused on two projects- the Good Samaritan Center in Simi Valley and Comforting Covers. The Good Samaritan Center supports 60 homeless people, and Comforting Covers provides hand-made blankets to elderly patients in hospitals.

"We're trying to fill a need in the lives of the homeless," DiSpaltro said about members' work with the Good Samaritan Center. Students have cleaned the center's yard, served food, baked cookies and supplied individual hygiene kits to the residents. Funds designated for the Assisteens' Christmas party were instead used to pay for bus passes and shoes for people at the Good Samaritan Center, DiSpaltro said.

"The homeless people thank us a million times," said Ben Schwartz, Oak Park High School senior and chair of Assisteens. "It's those thankyou's from the community that make you want to do the next project."

Aloni Cohen, another Oak Park High senior and head of fundraising for Assisteens, said the group is different from other charities.

"Usually volunteers just provide manual labor," he said of some nonprofit work. "With Assisteens you actually organize your own philanthropies."

Members created the Comforting Covers concept for seniors.

"We voted, approved, fundraised, bought supplies, and made blankets from scratch," Aloni said. They also chose the hospital.

Aloni implemented a new idea to raise money on local school campuses. Each year students purchase Advanced Placement study guides, which are never used again after the test is taken. Assisteen members placed boxes in classrooms and in AP test rooms and collected 72 books last year, selling them for $5 to $10 each. Students who purchased the used books saved money, and the funds raised were funneled into worthwhile projects, Aloni said.

Assisteens also help with projects overseen by its parent organization. Carol Karm, publicity director for the Assistance League of the Conejo Valley, said that group raised $160,000 to provide students with clothing and school supplies.

About 1,200 elementary school children in the Conejo Valley, Simi Valley and Moorpark received $100 gift certificates for shopping at local Target stores. Members of the Assisteens helped the children choose clothes, shoes, jackets, backpacks and other supplies for the year.

The Target shopping spree is part of the Assistance League's Operation School Bell program. Besides clothing and school supplies, volunteers provide literacy training in the schools.

Seeing children excited to prepare for the new school year, Karm said, "was an amazing thing." It was the first time many of the children had the opportunity to buy new clothing, she said.

"We are isolated from people who are less fortunate than people in Oak Park, said John Kopeky, an Assisteen member who attends Oak Park High School. "People are just down on their luck," he said, adding they sometimes just need a little help getting back on their feet.

For more information about joining Assisteens or about the upcoming membership drive meeting scheduled for April 10, call Karen Reddick, Assisteens coordinator, at (805) 373-6630.