Assistance League and Hollywood officials cut the ribbon at the new chapter house at 6640 Sunset Blvd. (photo by Brynn Mechem)

Assistance League of Los Angeles opened its new Hollywood chapter house on Nov. 18, and it will serve as a headquarters for staff offices, community events and the organization’s Operation School Bell program.

The league purchased the building, located at 6640 Sunset Blvd., in 2019. Since then, renovations have been made to the bowstring truss 1930s structure to help better serve the league’s mission to improve the lives of impoverished children by providing resources, programs and scholarships.

“The new chapter house is an inspiring environment for the league’s important work: creating equity for some of L.A.’s most vulnerable children and building a community of care,” Assistance League CEO Melanie Merians said.

Senior director of development and corporate engagement Allie Fernandez said now that the building is open, the league will launch a campaign to name different rooms. All money raised will go toward the league’s programs.

Since 1919, the Assistance League has raised funds to provide services to impoverished children and families. Today, the nonprofit serves nearly 22,000 children each year across five programs that provide clothing, school supplies, arts enrichment and educational opportunities.

At the opening, L.A. City Council President Pro Tempore Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, said by the time he was in seventh grade, his family had faced evictions and moved 10 times. He said he’s proud to welcome the new chapter house to Hollywood because the league “transforms lives and builds community.”

“I love partnering with the Assistance League; I always have,” O’Farrell said. “My whole entire team loves your purpose, your determination and your resolve to stay with what you were created for, and that is to lift families up, lift children up and set them on a path and a course for a productive, more fulfilling life.”

One way the program seeks to help impoverished children overcome barriers is through its Operation School Bell program, which annually provides 6,200 Los Angeles Unified School District students with new school uniforms, personal clothing, hygiene kits and shoes.

Assistance League Board President Adrienne Seltzer said thousands of children throughout Los Angeles do not regularly attend school because they lack the basic necessities Operation School Bell provides.

“These are very underserved children,” Seltzer said. “Some of them don’t even have their own toothbrush. They share a toothbrush or they share their shoes so they can’t go to school every day because they have to share shoes with a sibling. So, they live in incredible circumstances and we just try to boost them up a little bit so they’ll be proud to go school.”

Currently, volunteers prepack bags for students in the program and drop them off at each child’s school.

When it’s safe to do so, the league will annually invite about 2,200 children to the new Hollywood chapter house for a day of “shopping.” Children will be able to “shop” for new uniforms and play clothes before trying them on in the chapter house’s fitting rooms.

Volunteers serve as personal shoppers to help children select the best fit. Aside from clothes, children also receive their own backpacks and school supplies, and on the way out, they each get to select a toy to take home.

Children who do not visit the chapter house are served by the Operation School Bell on Wheels program, which serves about 4,000 children at school sites throughout Los Angeles annually.

Operation School Bell Auxiliary Chair Kiel FitzGerald, who also volunteers as a personal shopper, said she can’t wait for children to be able to visit the new chapter house.

“They just get so pumped up when they get to choose their own books or toys; they just lose their minds,” she said. “To see them run down the hallway with a smile is amazing. We haven’t had one kid here yet, and we built this for them, so I’m looking forward to having bus-fulls of children.”