Assistance League Rancho San Dieguito
Assistance League of Rancho San Dieguito is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children and adults in our local communities of Encinitas, Cardiff, Solana Beach and Del Mar. Annually our chapter members volunteer over 25,000 hours and return over $195,000 to our local community through our philanthropic programs.
Our programs include:
Operation School Bell: Clothing children
- Through this program we sponsor shopping events for local school children and their families at a local retail store. The students are chosen by their school district to participate. Each child has $110 tax-free to spend on clothes and shoes for school. We serve over 1200 local students with this program.
- Back to school event at Camp Pendleton: we work with five other local Assistance Leagues to provide a one-day event at Camp Pendleton for children from military families. The children receive clothes, hygiene kits, and vouchers for shoes. Over 500 children are served every year.
- Every March we offer shopping events for the students from the Encinitas Head Start program. Over 70 children are served.
Surviving After Violence
- Working with Palomar Health, we provide emergency clothing for victims of sexual assault whose clothes are collected as evidence.
- We also provide:
- Emotional support items like weighted stuffed animals and journals and pens for counselling sessions
- Life support items like trac phones with one months unlimited minutes, gift cards to local restaurants and Target and Walmart, shoes and backpacks
Preschool English Literacy Program
- Every week our volunteers do reading and math lessons with the four-year-old preschools at the Encinitas Head Start program.
Knifty Knitters
- Our volunteers knit baby blankets, sweaters, hats and booties which are donated to Balboa Naval Hospital.
- They also knit scarves for the deployed military personnel.
Flowers for You!
- Local merchants donate flowers, and our members create flower arrangements which are donated to area senior facilities and schools for teachers.
Scholarship Program
- Using established criteria, our scholarship committee selects eligible applicants from our five local high schools. Awards starting at $1000 help with college expenses. Each recipient also has an Assistance League member as a mentor.
One Safe Place
- We partner with One Safe Place, the family justice center in San Marcos.
- We provide donations of emergency clothing for Sharia’s Closet and funds for their therapy programs for children and teenagers for special events, food and craft supplies.
We also have an auxiliary: Assisteens. They are high school students who volunteer at the thrift shop and at our fundraiser. They have their own volunteer and fundraising activities.
ALRSD raises funds through its Thrift Shop at 1542 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas, fundraising events, individual and corporate donations and community and government grants. Funds are returned to the community through philanthropic programs that serve children and adults.
Membership is open to everyone. There are no paid volunteers.
Visit us at www.alrsd.org. We are also on Facebook and Instagram.