Diablo Valley – Achieves Milestone in Operation School Bell

More than 50,000 Contra Costa County schoolchildren have received clothing since 1994, thanks to Operation School Bell^®, one of the philanthropic programs of Assistance League of Diablo Valley. It’s premise: if children do not have appropriate clothing, their school attendance suffers and campus citizenship and overall emotional and academic growth lags, according to an Assistance League news release. On April 23, a crowd, including Joanna Smith and Sally Ryan, both of Danville, joined partners from the organization, elementary school staffers and school board officers, civic leaders and member volunteers at the Assistance League’s Way Side Thrift Shop in Lafayette to mark the occasion, and thank the community for its support. Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla presented a certificate of achievement to Assistance League president Veronica Gant, as other speakers, like Susan Angle and El Monte Elementary School Principal Christina Boman also credited the program for decades of service.