Our 22,000 member volunteers are what make our organization so remarkable. Each one is incredibly generous and imaginative. Each one is highly motivated to effect change in their communities because they have a personal stake in the outcome. And each one has the spirit to get the job done, whatever it is and whatever it takes.

Each Assistance League chapter exists to serve the unique needs and challenges of their community. Funds serve local needs, and services are locally designed, organized and carried out to fit these needs. The national organization supports, trains and monitors chapters to assure they function to the best standards of nonprofit governance. We are 120 chapters united in purpose and dedicated to making local lives better.

We believe that providing compassionate and caring services to individuals in communities across the nation is the standard and the primary measure of our organization. We believe we exist for the sole purpose of providing philanthropic services to meet the challenges posed by a diverse array of compelling individual and community needs.

We believe that full accountability is the responsibility of our leaders and members, and is an appropriate expectation of this organization by those who support Assistance Leagues work and those who receive its services. We believe that this responsibility demands and drives prudent fiscal and physical management, transparent internal and external relationships, viable program assessment and reasoned evaluation of personnel and organizational performance.

We believe in the intrinsic value of those we serve and of those with whom we serve. We believe that we can best demonstrate our respect for this value by providing fair and equitable treatment for our member and community volunteers, the recipients of our services and our donors and funders.

Organized as a national nonprofit in 1935, Assistance Leagues roots date back to the turn of twentieth century America when founder, Anne Banning, pioneered a tradition of compassion and benevolence carried on by her modern-day counterparts in Assistance League chapters around the country.

Anne Banning and her close friend and co-founder, Ada Edwards Laughlin, married into influential, well-to-do families. Annes father-in-law, Phineas, is the Father of the Port of Los Angeles. Her husband, Hancock, was instrumental in the development of Catalina Island. Ada, a Stanford graduate, teacher and proponent of womens basketball, married Homer Laughlin Jr., whose family is known for creating the iconic Fiesta Dinnerware that is still popular today.

A social activist at heart, Anne and a small group of prominent ladies began doing local charitable work in the mid-1890s under the name Assistance League. Their humanitarian efforts extended beyond local boundaries to the victims of the San Francisco earthquake. To raise money for those people underserved by conventional charities, Anne used her social connections to establish the pay to attend fundraising model that has proven successful for nonprofit organizations. During World War I, Anne organized the Los Angeles Red Cross Chapter and served as its Director.

In 1919, Anne, Ada and their charity-minded friends formalized Assistance League of Southern California, as a precursor to the national organization. They began by providing food and clothing for local families severely impacted by the war. A few years later, they greatly expanded their efforts with a neighborhood Community House that offered programs and services, which were emulated by public and private agencies.

Inspired by a life of privilege to help people adversely affected by their circumstances, Anne and Ada created a legacy of giving back that endures today. When they retired in 1948, there were 10 local chapters throughout Southern California. There are currently 120 nationwide, with more on the horizon.