All language subtitles for A Pebble In The Pond [2022] [1080p] eng

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This is a very special
day for me.

It was a year ago that Paul
and I, our director,

came to Universal

to see something called
Operation School Bell.

I had no idea what
we were going to see.

And as we stood there
watching, I was amazed.

I'd never
seen something like this.

I saw what Operation School Bell
was about.

I saw 200
or more children in line,

getting shoes
fitted by policemen,

and I saw smiles
on their faces.

And then they went
into the school bus

and came out with new pants,

new skirts,
new shirts, a backpack.

It was just
an amazing sight to me,

and my reaction was to cry.

I was so happy that tears
were running down my face,

and I thought, "I have
to be a part of this"

and Paul said,
"I have to film this!" [chuckles]

We had done
four episodes before

that were all about
helping people,

but this was
something extraordinary,

this was children.

Of course they help
more than children,

because Operation School Bell
is only

one of their many programs.

And here we are, a year later,
what an exciting year it's been

since that first day,
when we knew nothing

about Operation School Bell.

[narrator] To tell
a really great story,

you have to go back
to the beginning,

the origins,
to fully understand.

Any great character for
a book, protagonist in a film,

or superhero within a comic,

will have a really
dynamic origin story.

The Assistance League
is no exception.

Susan Glassell Patton
came to Los Angeles

from Virginia in 1866,

as a widow with four children.

Her husband, George S. Patton,

had died in the Civil War,

at the Third Battle
of Winchester.

Susan left Virginia to come
live with her brother,

Andrew Glassell, a prominent
lawyer in Los Angeles.

In 1870, Susan married
Colonel George H. Smith,

a lawyer, practicing in
partnership with her brother

under the firm name
of Glassell, Chapman & Smith.

Susan and George would have
two children together.

Anne Ophelia Smith was born
on February 25th of 1871,

in Los Angeles, California.

Their other child,
a son, Eldridge Hugh,

died as a young boy.

Anne was educated
at home until age 13,

when death struck the family
again with Susan's passing.

Shortly after
her mother's death,

Anne was sent to Virginia,

to live with
her parents' family.

Anne would not return
to Los Angeles

until she was 18 years old.

A year after returning,
in 1890, Anne married Hancock Banning,

son of Los Angeles pioneer,
Phineas Banning.

Anne Ophelia Smith,
now Mrs. Hancock Banning,

was a truly unique woman
with a different perspective,

certainly different
from her young peers.

Maybe this was because
of Anne's childhood,

half brothers and sisters,

and a mother who had
a previous life and a husband,

were certainly
not the norm of the day.

While Anne was born
and initially raised in Los Angeles,

far from the devastation
of Civil War battles,

her family, southerners,

many who fought
for the Confederate Army,

were less removed.

The horrors of war replayed,
the memories of loss

told over and over again.

For a southern family,
even one living in Los Angeles,

these atrocities
would've been a normal

and regular topic around
the house as Anne played.

While luckier than most,
it's also not completely

accurate to say that Anne
had an easy or normal childhood.

Certainly, witnessing both
your brother and mother's death

before you were
13 years old,

and then been shipped across
country, away from everything

and everyone you knew,

would've had a dramatic
impact on you.

What Anne couldn't have
possibly known, now newly married,

was exactly how dramatic of
an impact these previous events

would have on her,
her life's work,

and the world at large.

[Ann] There are many
charities out there,

why did you pick this one?

[woman] Um, I think because
at the time I joined,

I had a child in kindergarten

and another one in preschool,

and the appeal to me
was the importance

of having nice clothes
to go to school,

or enough clothes, shoes--

And I realized that, um,

this was a charity
that was providing that

to a lot of children
that didn't have

what my children had.

And it was just very
personal at the time,

thinking of children
starting school,

because I had a child
starting school,

and she had shoes
and uniforms to wear.

I've been a member since
19-1995, so, 23 years now,

and, um... I learned about
Operation School Bell

through, um, my school,

where my kids were,
and at that point in time,

School Bell was doing
used clothing drops.

[Joanne] My name is Joanne
McDonald and I'm president

of Assistance League
of Long Beach.

Behind me, you will see
some silver and gold

framed pictures,

each picture represents
a president,

there should be 77 of them.

Um, we are
in our 78th year now.

You will also notice
that my picture

has not gone up on the wall,
I have to prove myself

for a whole year before
they will put me up

in the gallery.

[woman] This particular chapter
is about 42 years old.

Um, it started in 1976,

they had
an organizational meeting

and that first year, you know,
took a little while to get--

to get everything,
um, chartered,

but, uh, our thrift shop,
I believe when they--

was started, um,

you named your thrift shop,
I think now it's pretty much

standard that it become
Assistance League

of Las Vegas Thrift Shop,
or things like that,

wherever your chapter's located,
but at the time it was called

Just a Second Boutique,

and so, when they
would answer the phone,

they would say
"Just a Second"

and then the other end
would kind of "uh..."

and wait,
wait for somebody to come back.

[Ann] That's--
that's very cute.

A lot of people come
because of what we do,

how we help children, and then
that certainly keeps them here,

but then they make friends here
as well, and so then they keep

playing a little bit more
and more each-- each year.

[Ann] So you are a family.

- [woman] Yes.
- [Ann] In a way, big family.

[woman] Oh, definitely,
definitely.

My name is Lisa Wierwille and
I'm the current board president

of the Assistance League
of Los Angeles.

In the short six years
that I've been involved,

it's really captured my heart.

I became interested in it
years ago with my daughter.

And so, we came in through
the Assisteens program,

I had also been a member of
the Anne Banning Auxiliary,

which does
Operation School Bell.

My name is Wendy Silver,

I've been with the Assistance
League and Prom co-chair

for eight years.

My co-chair Linda
and I joined,

we went to the first meeting,

they needed somebody
to buy large size dresses,

and we said "Oh, we'll do it!"

and we found a great
resource, and the next year,

they turned the project
over to us.

I also help dress the kids

as part of the regular
Assistance League.

Operation School Bell itself
is a little over 50 years old,

actually it's coming up
on 52 years old,

and it-- you know,

it started as a small
program to help

local school children
get to school,

and provide them
with clothing and supplies.

Then, it too continued
to grow based on the sincere

efforts and hard work,
dedication

of the members
of Assistance League.

We, here in Los Angeles, I think
the first year that we had

the Operation School
Bell program,

it served around 350 children,

358 children,
something like that.

And then, this past year,
we served over 6,200,

6,200 some-odd children.

So, it just continues to grow as
we are able, as an organization,

to raise more funds to be able
to provide, you know, more clothing,

more supplies, more
opportunities, uh, you know,

in the school district,

to deliver Operation
School Bell.

So it's pretty amazing.

[narrator] Those of you who
lived through the more recent change of the century,

from the late 1990s
into the 2000s, can relate.

For the people living
in Los Angeles in the 1890s,

this weren't just the final
years of another century,

they were witnessing,
first-hand, the future.

Technology, modernization,
and social change

were all bringing
new wonders to life.

Unfortunately, they were not
the only things evolving.

War, poverty and ignorance

would all take part
in the next century too.

Whatever the reason,
Anne always had an affinity

for others who were less
fortunate.

Whether friend
or complete stranger,

she believed in helping.

Newly married, Anne's 20s
were to be a time

for her to settle into married
life and motherhood,

but as has been said before,
Anne was different.

The 1890s would, for Anne,
be the true beginnings,

the fruition of her beliefs
put to action.

Anne was the member of
a small group of Los Angeles

society women who named
themselves Assistance League,

and did local charitable
work in an unofficial way.

This was not quite
the Assistance League

as it exists today,

but illustrates Anne's
efforts and her focus

from the beginning.

As early as 1894,
multiple articles can be found

across various
newspapers mentioning

the Assistance League
and Mrs. Hancock Banning.

No mention of Anne, though,

ironically,
that would only come later.

[kids chattering]

Hi, Abby, how old are you?

I'm 12 years old.

Twelve, oh, my goodness!
What do you think of this?

I think this is amazing.

It's-I feel like I wake up in
the morning and I'm so glad

to have a roof over
my head and food,

and when I see just
the joy on kids' faces,

and after getting a backpack,

and they're getting clothes,
and food, and then they get to go

to the parks,
I mean, that's amazing,

like, this is an experience
that they'll hold close

to their heart for
the rest of their lives.

I think it's so inspirational
and I love it so much.

Operation School Bell
is the key signature program

that is across
the United States

provided at every single
Assistance League chapter.

How they provide it
and what they do,

depends on their
local membership,

depends on the needs
of that community,

so it may change
or vary from place to place.

I believe we're the only
ones that has an extensive

Operation School Bell
on wheels,

with our fabulous
tractor-trailer,

that is state of the art,

to provide
the service at the schools.

Um, but in any event, whatever
they have, they try to really

make sure that the children
who need clothing,

who need school supplies,
who need the hygiene products,

whatever it is that they need,

that they're able to provide
them with those items.

[Ann]
You're a volunteer.

[woman] I am a volunteer.

I've been with Assistance League
since 2014, so about five years.

How many children do
you actually see in a year?

We usually
dress about 8,000 a year.

- [Ann giggles]
- I know, I know.

And not necessarily
all of them come here,

because if they're
kindergarteners,

they cannot come on a bus,
so we do bags as well.

- Yes, yes.
- So the schools will bring the paperwork and we--

- Fill the bag.
- Fill a bag for them.

[woman] Operation School Bell
is a nationwide program

and we dress kids.

Some of them take them to
the schools in trailers,

'cause they have uniforms.

And years ago, we dressed
them on our-- our property,

but we just couldn't do that,

and now we partnered
with Target,

and we're able to do,

I think Laura said she wants
to do 3,600 kids this year.

- [Ann] That's awesome. Yes!
- Amazing, huh? Amazing.

This organization is hands-on,
actually helping children

who are very small, to big,
and how do they do that?

They do that by showing them
that somebody cares about them.

What's up, man?
How are you doing?

Hey, how are you?

- Good.
- You're good.

He's gonna get you some shoes.

[officer] Yeah, I've been doing
this for two years.

Before I became
a police officer,

I actually
used to sell men's shoes.

- [Ann] Oh, really?
- Willet's department store.

- Center of the city.
- So you know what you're doing.

Yes, so this is kind
of like going back.

So, I enjoy it and just seeing
the look on the kid's face

when they get to have
some new shoes,

- I mean, it warms your heart.
- [Ann] It does.

A lot of times in police work,
we don't always get to see

a good ending, but here,
it's going to be a good ending.

- Absolutely.
- Because you see them when they walk in,

and the excitement before,

and now you see it, you know,
once they leave, so it's great--

[Ann] Do they-you think
they know that you're a police officer?

[man] We have our shirts
and I'm wearing my hat,

but, you know, I want to show
them a different side of law enforcement, cops.

I think it's so important
that they know that you are.

Yeah, because we, you know, our-

- That you're good guys.
- We call us cops,

but we're public servants,

you know, public safety,
and that's what we're here for.

You know, when they put on
the shoes, they look down,

maybe they listen
more in class,

maybe they start doing their
school work now,

because we don't know
how it affects them,

when you can go and get some
new shoes,

now you've come
to school happy

and not worried
about being embarrassed.

[uniformed officer] These kids,
this is our future.

They're going
to grow up one day,

and we want them to come back
and pour it back into this program.

Of course.

So we want them to come
back and remember

"Hey, somebody fitted me
with shoes one day,

and now I want to do the same
for somebody else."

I grew up, uh, we weren't
exactly-we weren't poor, you know.

my parents, like I mentioned
before, were teachers,

but the times that you got,
uh, a pair of brand new shoes

were counted, with one hand,
throughout the year.

And just being able to give-
I mean, just being here,

and see these kids get
a pair of shoes, it's great.

That looks so good.

Here, let me see
your backpack for a minute.

How do you feel?

Stand up and see how it feels.

Good, stand up and see
if it feels all right.

- Does that feel all right?
- [girl] Yes.

[Ann] Sure it does.
Oh, that's so nice.

[officer] I was-grew up poor,
just like a lot of these kids did,

so, that's the other thing
I was thinking like, man,

I wish when I was growing up
I would've had a program like this

that would've got me some shoes,
and clothes and everything else.

Okay, go ahead and stand up and
let's see how we're doing here.

- Oh, yeah. You've got plenty
of room... [indistinct] - Does that feel good?

All right, you want to wear
those or your old ones?

If that's okay, these ones.

Do you want to leave those on?

Okay, cool, so I'm going to
give you a bag to put your old shoes in...

When you see those children
come in on the bus,

and a lot of these children
are coming from broken-up homes-

[Ann] Foster homes.

Foster homes. I don't know
if they live in their car,

and when they are so happy
to get a new pair of shoes-

See? I'll start crying.
They're so grateful.

It's like I want to go home
and slap my own kids.

- No! I'm just kidding!
- [Ann laughs]

But I'm just like-

I know, but I understand that.

I have to keep doing this,
as long as I can.

- [Ann] Yes.
- [woman] As long as I can.

It warms your heart.

And I saw
the Operation School Bell

and all the new clothes
in there, like the-whoa!

It's like Target!
This is amazing!

Well, we had a little boy
today who came through here,

and in our backpacks
we give them a dictionary

and a kit that has, uh, shampoo,
and a brush, and a toothbrush,

and toothpaste, and he was
saying to me "Well, what is all that?"

and I told him and he says
"Oh, wow, I have a toothbrush!

Because I can't brush
my teeth in the morning,

I don't have a toothbrush,
now I can."

[woman] They're the stories
that grab your heart.

Um, and we're in the trailer

and, um, there's a little
girl who is, um,

she's-she was one
of the younger ones,

actually, she was blind.

So, she'd come in with her-her
caretaker and, um...

so, we took her some panties,

and she took the panties
and held it up to her heart,

and said "I've never
had panties of my own."

Okay, and it was heartbreaking,
it was heartbreaking.

But it was wonderful.

I had a little girl who was
about 12, came in in flip-flops,

and, um, you know,
we were getting her clothes

and her shoes,
and then she says, um, you know,

"I lost my shoes,

somebody stole them when
we were living in the car."

It's-I mean, there's
a million stories.

They're little boys,
they were brothers,

they walked ten blocks
to school every day,

but they only had two outfits.

So that day they got lots
of things, we made sure.

There was a young boy at
Operation School Bell on wheels

a couple weeks-actually,
a couple of months ago now,

uh, and he was brought in
all alone by one counselor.

And as she was signing him in,
I could feel like he was just

so nervous and looking
around and so, so scared,

and she said "You're okay,
just-- just wait right there,

I'm just going to check you in"
and I went up to him

and I tried to engage him,
and it was almost impossible

for him to speak to me, he was
so-like beside himself nervous.

And his--
he had a sweatshirt on,

and literally,
he was in tatters.

I mean, this sweatshirt was
completely, like, ragged

and torn and filthy, you know.

And I just asked, you know,
one of the women,

one of our volunteers,
'cause I had to leave,

I couldn't stay that day,
but I said,

"Watch that young man, and let
me know how he does at the end."

And this is the young man
who didn't want to take

his shoes off, because he didn't
want anyone to see his feet.

[Ann] How did he do?

He did great!

[Ann] Was he happy?

He was happy.

[Ann] He must've been.

Yeah.

So, you know, you can't--
that's priceless, right?

Oh, I'm getting emotional.

You know, but it's amazing,
you know, how to help one child

feel good about himself,
how to help one child

feel hopeful, you know,
that they can fit in,

they have a future, they can get
along with other kids, you know.

I mean, it's so-- priceless
as they say, you know. It really is.

[Ann] I've met women
very much like myself,

who want to do
something for kids,

who care about
these kids' future,

and who've been doing it
for years and years.

I'm a newbie.

I've just found them,
I had never heard

of the Assistance League.

I didn't know what
Operation School Bell was.

And I daresay
that most people don't.

[Skype incoming call]

- Hi!
- Hi!

I'm so glad to, uh, meet you
and talk to you in person,

on Skype this morning.

How are you?

Great, and you?

Fine, Melany.

I read an article about you
and, um, I was very impressed.

I was especially interested
in the fact that people can work

as hard as you do and still have
trouble making ends meet.

But you know, when you've got to
do what you've got to do,

you make everything work
for your kids, though.

With an attitude like
that you succeed.

[Melany] Yes, exactly.

And, uh, I'm glad that in some
way, the Assistance League

and School Bell can be
of some sort of help to you.

[Melany] They've been amazing.

Have you used them before?

I have. I've, uh-- I've actually
had to use them for all three

of my kids throughout the years.

Um, there's been good years
that I haven't had to use them,

but on the more
financially struggling years,

that's when we've had to rely
on them a little more. But yeah.

And I'm working every day
that I possibly can.

How many hours?

Over 40.

What kind of assistance do
you need and are getting?

Um, right now,
we are on Medicaid, um,

and we get, uh, food stamps,
and then we get assistance

with the Assistance League
of Boise,

um, at the beginning of each
year for-- um, when we need it.

It's pretty huge when,
you know, you can't afford to make that big purchase,

uh, for school clothes
at the beginning of the year.

The kids, um, get on the bus
and they-- they take the bus

to the Assistance League
of Boise here,

and, um, they let the kids,
uh, play and everything.

And they-- last time they had a,
um, science guy there

who was doing a whole
bunch of experiments,

while the other kids were
picking out their clothes and such.

And it was just a lot of fun.

They probably loved that, it was
really a special day, right?

[Melany] They really did!

[narrator] At 5:12 a.m.

on Wednesday April 18th,
1906, lives in California

would be forever changed.

Unbeknownst to Anne,
at that exact moment,

her life would also
be changed forever.

The 1906
San Francisco earthquake

struck the coast
of northern California

with an estimated magnitude
of between 7.7 and 7.9.

Striking early in the morning,
the great quake of 1906

left more than 80%
of the city damaged

from the quake itself and from
the fires that followed.

The earthquake was felt
from southern Oregon

to south of Los Angeles

and inland,
as far as central Nevada,

an area of approximately
of 200,000 square miles.

The earthquake produced insured
losses of 235 million dollars

in 1906, which is equivalent to
over 4.9 billion dollars today.

Current estimates put
the total death toll

at over 3,000
with the ensuing fires.

The majority of these
fatalities occurred

in San Francisco proper.

Up until this event,
Anne's life had been largely

preoccupied with that
of being the traditional wife,

mother and supportive
social hostess

for her successful
husband and his business.

Reading about the terrible
aftermath

of the San Francisco
earthquake and fire, though,

something would
forever change in Anne.

Like a phoenix rising from the
ashes of this devastated city,

Anne would be changed and
become something far greater.

She would bring her friends,
the elite society women,

Hollywood people and others,
many women who still

didn't have the right
to vote, to action.

Anne would set into
motion actions, ideas,

concepts and tools,
that changed lives in the immediate,

but also for generations
to come, including today.

Creative,
intelligent, empathetic,

and unencumbered by tradition,
Anne would immediately recruit

her well-connected friends
to raise money to aid

those who were underserved
by conventional charities.

[woman] Good afternoon.

[narrator] Anne's Assistance
League would respond

to the San Francisco
earthquake and fire

by collecting money
and sewing clothes

for survivors of the tragedy.

While adults were certainly
helped, even in 1906,

much of the focus for
the Assistance League,

and for Anne,
would be on helping children.

This would be true
for her entire life.

Who-- who knows what they'd like
to be when they grow up? What do you want to be?

Police.

A policeman,
like these great guys here.

- What would you like to be?
- Soccer player.

What? A soccer player?

I bet you'd be
a good soccer player.

You play now?

Yeah, that's a great game.

Are you all in the same--
What grade are you in?

- Second.
- Second.

- What grade?
- Third?

- Third?
- No, he's not in third.

No! He's teasing me! He said
he was in the third grade.

Um, help other people.

Grow up helping other people.

What are you going to be
when you grow up?

What do you like? What's
your favorite thing in school?

What's your favorite subject?

- Math.
- Math?

Good for you!

- What would you like to be?
- [sings] I love to double time...

I want to be an animator.

An animator!
Oh, I bet you draw good.

- Say hi to Alex.
- [Jonathan] Hi, Alex.

Where's your guys' badges?
You didn't get them yet?

- [girl] No.
- No?

Oh, man, I've got
to get you a badge.

You guys are my partners today.

Are you going to get badges?

Gonna fight crime, yay.

Wow!

Wow.

- [Jonathan] Thank you.
- There you go.

All right, guys, so we're
going to get you some new shoes today, okay?

Some new socks
and some other stuff.

So do me a favor, take your
shoes off, and your socks,

and you're going to put
your socks in here, okay?

I'll hold on to your backpacks.

You guys got any food in here
for me? Because I'm hungry.

- No? Nothing?
No snacks in your pockets? - Oh!

- Nothing like that?
- [Jonathan] No, I forgot to get those snacks.

- Oh, man.
- [chuckles]

[Ann] What would you want
to be when you grow up?

[girl] I would like
to be a teacher,

because my favorite
teacher inspired me.

Really? What did she do
that was so inspiring?

Um, she, like, if we needed help
she'd go like "Don't give up!

You can do this!
Don't give up!"

And that was--
that's what inspired me.

I think that's the best
thing you can learn,

not to give up.

- [girl] Yeah.
- And sometimes we succeed,

and sometimes we fail,

but if we fail, what do we do?
We pick ourselves up.

We learn from our mistakes.

The people who are
afraid to make mistakes

never learn anything.

Oh!

Look, I almost matched
the ones that you have on.

- Pretty close, huh?
- [girl] Yeah.

That's pretty,
that's very pretty.

Jonathan, what do you want
to be when you grow up?

I want to be--
I want to join the military.

- [Ann] Really?
- Yes.

[Ann] Why do you
want to do that?

Um, to save lives.

[Ann] That's great.

[Alex] You know
what branch, Jonathan?

No, not yet.

I've got two girls,
my two oldest daughters,

they're in the Navy right now.

- They are?
- [Ann] Really?

- [Alex] Both of them.
- [Ann] You're not that old!

[Alex] I'm old.

You have kids in the Navy?

I have a 20 and a 19-year-old
in the Navy right now.

That's fantastic.

What do you want to be
when you grow up?

Be a policeman.

A policeman! Here,
you've got a buddy.

You want to be a cop?
Oh, man!

Yeah! Look at that.

LAPD, brother, all right.

We want you
to come work with us.

What do you want to be?

- Police.
- What?

- Police.
- He wants to be a police too.

- Oh, wow!
- Future cops!

- We've got future
policemen here. - Yes, yes.

I feel so protected.

What is that?

It's a badge.

Why are you wearing it?

Because I want to be
an officer when I grow up.

That's a great thing
to want to be.

Why do you want to be
a police officer?

So I can help other people.

- Right, like--
- Like me!

Like this
beautiful lady? Yes?

I can be teammates with her.

- You can be...
- Teammates.

Teammates.
So he can be teammates.

Teammates! Oh! That's--
that's wonderful!

Is it fun
to get a whole lot of stuff?

Yeah.

Do you know what you want
to be when you grow up?

I want to be a doctor.

Oh, I hope you do.
We need more doctors, that would be amazing.

Do you want to take care
of children or grownups?

- Both.
- Both.

She has big dreams,
I love that.

The important thing is to
work and make good grades.

Maybe you will.
That would be something else.

How could you not want
to see these children thrive

rather than just survive.

These are tomorrow's teachers,
these are tomorrow's principals,

tomorrow's firemen,
tomorrow's policemen,

mayors and governors, and maybe,
one of them will be president.

These are children who need
our help.

And hopefully,
from giving that help,

they'll see that somebody
cares about them.

Operation School Bell
does more than dress children,

they actually
give children books.

And what's more important
than giving them that start,

a book that will carry them
into a new place,

a new land, um, they'll meet
new people within that book.

And hopefully, encourage them
to read more and more books.

It's so important that we break
the chain of poverty,

and the way to do that is
through education.

And Operation School Bell
seems to understand that.

Here's a bird.

Look, everybody eating.

And everybody eating
yummy fruit.

[boy] Let me see.

And bananas,
and yummy blueberry,

and eating delicious--
and cherry and-- wah-- and strawberry...

[♪]

[no audible dialogue]

Oh, that's a lot of--
Man, how many pages is that?

That's a lot of pages
in that book, dude.

I bet you read every page.

Dance of Ghosts.

Which one--
what book did you get?

Oh, man, I'd be up late
night reading that.

- Me too!
- I wouldn't even watch TV.

What do you got?

Oh!

The Shore Road Mystery.
Ooh, I bet that's a good one.

That's the Hardy Boys.

I read every single book,
up to-- I think it was 56,

but that's
the last one I stopped at.

So, uh, great books.

This is what I read
that inspired me

to become a police officer,
because these are detectives.

Have you ever read
these books before?

Have you ever read that?

Hardy Boys, make sure
you guys look through this...

Look through that too.

...and it goes
all the way up--

Hey, James!

Hardy Boy mysteries.

[James] Oh, is that right?

Yeah, man! I read every
single one of those.

So I don't know if they kept
going after 56, I read them all.

So, good luck to you guys, man.

Nothing to me could be
more important than kids being read to.

Read to.

And learning to read,
because if they can't read--

- No. Right.
- If one out of four children in this country

is illiterate and can't read,
that child is lost, isn't...?

And for many of their parents,
their literacy is very minimal.

- Yes.
- And I'll tell you a personal story.

My father had
a second grade education,

and growing up, I always
wondered if my dad could read.

And it wasn't until I was
an adult that I actually

had the courage to ask him,
"Hey, can you read?"

- And could he read?
- And he could read,

but, you know,
he could read very little.

But enough to get by.

- But did he--
- And enough to become a United States citizen too.

Oh, that's beautiful.
That wasn't easy.

No, it wasn't.

No, but-- and-- but reading
must've been very important

to him because, look at you,
you're the principal of a school!

I am, I am.

I get-- I get to-- I get
to lead these kids,

what a great job, right?

An-- Absolutely.

We encourage reading
to no end here,

so we're always telling kids,
"Read, read, read,"

sometimes they don't have
access to the books at home,

so, to have their own book,

they're excited
to be able to pick a book

and to be able to have a choice,

to say "This is
the book I choose."

You know, we host book fairs
and things like that

all the time,
but this is a different thing.

They get to pick a book
that they can have,

they-- it's free, you know,
and they take it home and they--

You know, a lot of them
read them right away.

Some of them sit on the bench
and start reading right away,

because they're
so excited about it.

[narrator] In April of 1917,

11 years after
the San Francisco quake,

America entered
the war in Europe,

what would be
the First World War.

The war had been raging
since the summer of 1914.

America's entrance
was not the beginning

of Anne's activism however.

That had already
begun long before.

Anne hosted various fundraisers
and lectures,

before America officially
entered the war.

These events would
benefit the Red Cross,

by providing relief
to war-torn European countries,

first in the form of doctors,
nurses and medical supplies,

and later, with hospital
garments, surgical bandages,

and refugee clothing, sent
to sister Red Cross societies

and produced
by women like Anne.

By the end of the war,
nearly one third

of all Americans had donated
in support at the Red Cross effort,

or were serving as volunteers.

This isn't
all that Anne did, though.

She also helped form
and organize

the Los Angeles Red Cross
Unit in February of 1917,

a few months before America
even officially entered the war.

Anne also
served as its director.

On many occasions, she traveled
as a representative

of the Los Angeles
Red Cross Unit,

bringing her unique energy

and fundraising ideas
to others.

On October 2nd of 1917,
the fundraising unit

of the Red Cross would really
kick into high gear

and begin a model created
by Anne and documented

with her hand-written notes
that is still being used

by the Red Cross
and other organizations today.

Anne's idea was
to open a charity shop

as a fundraising tool.

People, many wealthy society
women and friends of Anne,

would donate items that would
then be sold in the shop.

Many items would be priced
lower than market value,

so as to guarantee that
they sell quickly and easily.

All the proceeds from these
sales would then go

directly to the Red Cross.

Anne's ingenious idea would
be realized with the very first

Red Cross shop,
opening in Los Angeles,

at the Canfield House, located
at 803, South Alvarado Street.

This "shop with a soul,"
as Anne liked to call it,

easily raised
over $132,000

before it had even
been open for one year.

That's nearly three million
dollars by today's standards.

Charity thrift shops
are common

and exist throughout
the world now,

helping to support
a plethora of causes.

In 1917, however,
there was only the one on Alvarado Street.

Imagine what a unique
and innovative idea

this concept was at the time.

This alone would warrant
a special distinction,

any normal person would
have been satisfied

by this accomplishment
and rested on their laurels.

Anne was not normal, though,
and she was hardly done innovating.

[Ann] Tell me,
how long have you been with the Assistance League?

- [woman] Ten years.
- [Ann] Really?

- [woman] Yes.
- [Ann] And have you always worked in the thrift shop?

- [woman] Always, always.
- [Ann] Really?

Absolutely, I love--
We basically do about

- $10,000 a week,
in the thrift shop. - I beg your pardon?

- About $10,000 a week
in our thrift shop. - [Ann laughs]

Yeah. Everything's donated,
so, pure gravy!

That is fantastic!
And this property is owned by the Assistance League.

- Yes, it is, yes, it is.
- Pure gravy.

[woman] All the money goes
into our philanthropic programs,

to clothe school children.

- [Ann] Yes.
- [woman] Yes, our OSB.

[Ann] Called
Operation School Bell.

[woman] Operation School Bell.
Mm-hmm. We are blessed.

We are blessed
with so many donations.

We have a mountain of
donations in the back room.

And if it doesn't fit up
to our thrift shop standards,

we don't
really get rid of it.

Um, what we do is, some of
the things will go downtown

to the homeless people, others
will go to homeless teenagers,

soiled bedding, sheets, will go
to the SPCA for the animals.

So, you know, we really don't
like to throw anything away.

[Ann] I love your attitude.

I love the fact that you want to
come here three times a week.

I do.

I'd come five times a week,
but, you know, I have a husband.

[both laugh]

- So, you know.
- And they take a lot of work.

[woman]
It's so much fun. It's fun!

- [Ann] You're fun.
- That's the thing, I enjoy it.

- Yeah. Thanks.
- And you show that.

And that's what I get
from everybody I talk to.

I don't want
to sound like Pollyanna, but it's such a great group...

- It really is.
- Such a wonderful organization.

- [woman] It really is.
- [Ann] And what you do with Operation School Bell

just makes my heart sing!

- [woman] Doesn't it? Doesn't it?
- [Ann] Yes!

Absolutely. You'll have
to come back and shop.

I'm not leaving here
until I look around.

- Cool. We like it.
- I'm telling you. [laughs]

This is me 30 years ago.

- Really?
- Yeah.

- This is me.
- Tell me about you 30 years ago.

Same story
as many of these kids.

Uh, single-family home,
father out of the home,

uh, there's six kids,
mom worked three jobs.

Oh, my God.

And, uh, same thing,
I used to come to school

with holes in my shoes,
you know.

And it was quite embarrassing.
They didn't-- I didn't get new shoes,

I didn't know
about this program.

And, uh,
this is wonderful, to see this.

It's-- it's wonderful
to see this

and it's wonderful
to be a part of.

You know,
I remember going to school

and just being embarrassed,
other kids would make fun of me.

- [Ann] They did?
- [Alex] Yeah, and it hurt, you know.

But you kind of just keep it in,
and you kind of just move along.

Make the best of what you had.

[Ann] And your brothers
and sisters?

Yeah, so I had, uh, four sisters
and one brother, all immigrants.

I was actually the first one
born in this country

- from my whole family.
- Where is your family from?

Uh, my family
is all from Mexico.

- I'm first-generation too.
- There you go.

I understand that.

So, I love--
I love these kind of events.

I'm just, uh, very fortunate
that I got to come

and participate today.

You're a great role model
for them.

Thank you, I appreciate that.

And I can understand
how putting a pair of shoes

on these kids
really brings you home.

Oh, yeah.

I'm Salvadorian,
Central America.

Are you, uh-- you were
brought over as a child?

- As a teenager.
- As a teenager?

- How was your English
when you came here? - [indistinct radio chatter]

Uh, I knew how to say hello.

And I had a good
support system, because,

uh, my sisters
were already here, so they spoke English.

They taught me how to say,
"I don't speak English."

And I learned
how to say that very well,

so people would look at me
with a straight face,

"What do you mean
you don't speak English? You said that right!"

[woman]
We have a lot of wonderful role models here.

The police are terrific,
they're great partners for us.

- They love what they're doing.
- Oh, they do. You can tell.

- Yeah.
- That they talk to every child,

and there's a really
wonderful interaction, it's great.

Well, because it's-- they know
how the outcome of the day would be.

- Yes, they do, yeah.
- They know--

- They can see it
with every smiley face... - That's right, that's right.

...that they're doing
something very positive

- and nobody's going to get hurt.
- Yeah, that's right.

Anyway, so it brings
a tear to my eye, I can't even talk about it

without my eyes watering,
sorry.

- No, I understand.
- But we love what we do.

You know,
it's so nice that the kids can feel like they fit in.

Helps with bullying
and makes them feel good.

They're happy to come to school.

And we're hoping it improves
their attendance...

- Of course.
- ...which is our mission, you know,

- to keep them
in school for success. - Of course it does.

[narrator] In October of 1918,
Anne had decided to resign

all of her positions
at the Red Cross and the Red Cross Shop.

At their annual meeting,
she was quoted as saying,

"I feel assured
that the good work

will grow in scope
and beneficence,

since so many able hands
will guide it

in its every department."

The papers of the time
reported that the reason

for her resignation was
to take a well-deserved vacation.

But it's truer to say
that Anne had outgrown

what she had started and wanted
to move to other things.

The First World War would
also end in November of 1918,

so priorities
were beginning to shift.

A resignation, for most people,
would signal a desire

to do less
and have less responsibilities.

For Anne,
the exact opposite was true.

Anne would continue
her normal fundraising,

throwing parties,
benefit dinners,

hosting lectures,
but also began implementing

new ideas she had drummed up.

In May of 1918,
the Los Angeles Times announced that...

[journalist] "Society Women
and Movie Folk

Back New Venture!"

[narrator]
The headline continued.

[journalist]
"Exclusive Homes Place at Directors' Disposal.

Fees from Film Use Will Go
to Worthy Charities.

A coterie
of the society elect has formed

the Assistance League
of Southern California.

The incentive
for the undertaking

was a desire to raise money
for the benefit

of the sick and crippled,
and for the tubercular.

It is not a new charity,
but charity on a New Plan."

[narrator] Anne
was mentioned in the article.

[journalist] "Mrs. Hancock
Banning, whose work as an organizer for the Red Cross

became known throughout
the country during the war,

is the founder
and president of the League,

and has surrounded herself
with a group of women who proved their ability

and capacity for doing good
in a big way during the war."

[narrator]
The fundraising concept was simple but brilliant.

As described
in the 1920 article...

[journalist]
"Through the League, film corporations

will secure locations
hitherto barred for films.

Owners who firmly refuse
the use of their properties

will now realize
the good they can do

by permitting their premises
to be used for pictures.

Men handing
some deserving charity,

but also assisting
one of the largest

of our industries--
the film corporations."

[narrator]
The idea didn't just work for Southern California either.

On May 1st, 1921,
the New York Herald had an article

which talked about a new
fundraising technique

that had begun in New York.

[journalist] "Men and women
who have made society

in New York will not only
offer their services

as movie actors,
but will turn their homes,

their country estates,
and their yachts into stages for film scenes.

Organizers of the Film Service
Mutual Benefit Bureau

give credit to Mrs. Hancock
Banning of Los Angeles.

She has been raising
$10,000 a month for California charities

by persuading the owners
of beautiful estates to permit

the use of the homes
for scenario purposes.

[narrator]
Ultimately, Anne's idea of getting Hollywood

involved in giving back had
many different applications and uses.

From acting as producers and
reaping the financial benefits,

to acting as film's location
scout and taking a cut,

to even creating
useful resources,

particularly to mothers
with young children,

reviewing
and recommending films,

a sort of early Motion
Picture Association of America rating system.

Anne even realized home movies,
far before Super 8s,

camcorders, or VHS existed.

The Los Angeles Times
reported in June of 1922...

[journalist] "The principal
aim of the Film Benefit Bureau

is to preserve personal
pictures.

Not for
the benefit of the public,

but for the joy
of future generations and private families,

operated in
the interest of charity.

[narrator] Anne saw
unlimited potential and possibility.

And she acted upon that
over and over again.

When I was a little girl,
my mother was always

volunteering to help
in the neighborhood.

We lived with
our back door open,

and people came to
the back door

who were hungry
and who offered to do work.

And my mother always
fed those people.

She showed me that reaching
out to help somebody

makes you feel better than
if you were being helped.

My parents,
by the way, were immigrants.

I happen to be first-generation
in this country.

And being first-generation,
I understand what it means

to grow up
in a land that's free.

She made a beautiful life,
and I just want to pass that on.

[girl] I was, uh, born and
raised in Southern California,

I grew up in Huntington Beach.

Put into foster care,
I was supposed to be living

with my dad,
but I was living with my mom,

and she has a bunch of different
type of mental disorders and brain injuries.

And then drugs came into play,
which everyone shames people

for like the drug use
and everything,

but it's a normal thing
when you do have

mental disorders going on.

And then I got put into
foster care on November 19th.

And then, November 23rd,
my dad passed away the day that we had court.

So I was left with only
one parent after that,

and I tried to reunify
with my mom,

but we weren't
really getting along.

And so I just went back
to live with foster care.

That didn't work out,
so I just decided to emancipate.

But I always sort of knew
that I would get emancipated,

I knew what it was since
I was nine years old.

My very first job,
I was working at Curves

in Huntington Beach,
it's the women's gym.

But I met a lot
of great ladies at Curves,

and a lot of them volunteered
with the Huntington Beach Assistance League.

And a lot of those ladies
were there for me

when I got emancipated.

They would ask me,
"Oh, how's it going?

How's the process going?

Have you found
a place to live yet?

Do you have a car?
How's school going?"

So we were-- they were
very involved in my life.

And even that meant a lot,
you know?

Because there are these people
who barely even know me,

they want to know
if they can help.

And so,
after I got emancipated,

there was a lady
named Alma Valdés

that, um, she was
one of my favorites.

I love her to this day.

And she volunteers
with the Assistance League of Huntington Beach.

She introduced me
to Operation School Bell

and told me
that they had Target Night.

When I'm supporting
myself at 16,

it's difficult to determine,

"Oh, should
I go buy some socks?

Or should I buy food?"
You know?

So, I went to Target Night

and I got my little
cell phone calculator out

and everything that
I put in the cart,

I put in the calculator.

And I stayed there probably
for the entire time

that they had for Target Night,
just adding things up,

taking things out of the cart,
putting things in, adding it up,

and I came within,
like, 48 cents of the total.

And the ladies there
were like, "Wow."

- [Ann] That's very impressive.
- [girl] "You really did a good job."

And I was like "I need this,
this is important to me.

So, I'm trying to get
as much as I can get."

[Ann] Seems to me
the Assistance League

became your family.

They cared about you.

I've met so many ladies,
I've met their husbands,

they threw a birthday party
for me once, a graduation party.

They've just helped me out more
than anyone ever has, really.

- They were family.
- They're family, yeah.

I go to lunch with them,

I catch up with them
over the phone,

it's just-- I don't know what
I would do without them,

because it really
does make you feel like you belong somewhere.

Even though I'm 20 and most
of these women are retired,

I just love being around them,
because it's just genuine love.

No matter
what you're going through,

no matter what's going on
at home,

you can get there, because
I'm living proof of that,

because all the statistics
show that I should be addicted to drugs,

I should be homeless,
I should be jobless,

I should be a dropout,
but if you're determined

to get what you want in life,

there's nothing
that can stop you.

And just because you grew up
in a bad environment

does not mean
that you cannot succeed.

I do want to volunteer
with kids in some way,

because I want them
to know that there are people that are there for them.

- I'm Ann.
- Hi, Ann, I'm Kai Tramiel.

Tell me your job.

I am the director of membership
and community outreach.

We're a 100-year-old
organization,

and we have a long legacy,
so my job is to make sure

that our legacy continues
with new members.

I'm a new member.

- You're a new member?
- I am.

- Really? Yay!
- Yes.

How exciting!
And I didn't even have to do anything, just showed up.

But my other job
is community outreach.

So working with corporate
groups, or community groups

who also want to be engaged
and be of service.

So my role is to find
the right fit for them

in the organization, to come
and be a part of what we do.

Give me an example.

So for example,
we have a group of, um,

sororities
at Cal State University LA,

who want to come
and be of service.

And so, it's an amazing
group of young ladies.

They're going to help,
um, provide donations

for our prom day
that's happening in March.

And they're going to also
be of services on prom day,

so they're going to help
dress our prom girls.

[Ann] You really do
something wonderful

and I think it gives you
a lot of satisfaction.

You have a partner.

Yes, Wendy Silver
is my co-chair.

I call us the Yin
and the Yang

because we always
tease each other.

She's so amazing
with, you know,

keeping us organized
in letters and this and that.

And I'm the big mouth
of the group, so I can ask for anything,

and we need to ask
for many things, so...

What are some of the things
you've asked for?

A funny story,
we were in JCPenney's, uh,

someone had given us
gift cards as a donation

to buy dresses, etcetera.

And I heard the general
manager was--

bigwig was coming in
that day and touring.

And I grabbed him in
the middle of his tour

and I said, "Excuse me!"

[Ann laughs]

[woman]
Um, and I told him what we did,

I said, "We dress
homeless girls for prom."

It came right out of my mouth,
and before you know it,

I had half the store around us,
and helping us check out,

and discounting, and giving
us coupons, and whatever.

In any store
I'll just mention it

and I'll say
as I'm checking out, "Oh, these are for--

we dress
homeless girls for prom."

And you'll be amazed
what you get out of it.

[Wendy] I don't think
that there's anybody else that does prom like we do.

And so we've got two days
and we serve about 200 girls,

and put smiles on
everybody's faces each year.

It started 12 years ago,

and I believe our member
Marion Plato started.

She had a connection
with someone who had shoes.

We had a member
who manufactured dresses.

And I think it took off
from there.

Eight years ago,
they were dressing 35 girls,

we now dress 200 girls.

- [Ann] 200 girls--
- [Wendy] And we say dress.

They're not going
to their prom that day,

this is in advance
of their prom,

and we outfit them
with all that they need to look fabulous.

We have seamstresses who, on
the spot, can alter the dresses

for them, and they leave
with-- with a great dress.

The makeup portion
of our event,

we do get volunteers that are
professional makeup artists.

And it's just to demonstrate
makeup, while these girls

are waiting to go through what
we called our prom boutique.

And we get
many, many donations, and for all skin tones,

which is important.

Um, we have a lot of
diversity, which we love

and we want at prom, and this
way we take care of everybody.

We receive used, worn,
and new shoes.

And when-- of course,
when we buy shoes.

Thank you.
I think these are great.

They're beautiful!

- They're beautiful shoes, yes.
- Good taste, girls.

I want to look
at some of these dresses.

Let's hold them up.

Here, Ann,
that's a good one for you.

I love this.

Oh, my.

- Oh, we can all take one.
- Yes, yes, yes!

Oh, these are beautiful.

- Aren't they?
- Wow!

- Here we go.
- How about this?

Wow, and there you go!
Here we are.

We're ready--
we're ready for prom.

[laughs]

[Wendy]
This woman contacted us,

she wanted to take on
the prom project collection at her school.

And I had never met her before,
and she did a great collection,

I think she had people
who were involved

in the fashion industry.

And came with a van filled
with about ten girls,

who had been instrumental

in the collection
and all of the merchandise,

brand-new shoes, beautiful
dresses, jewelry, makeup.

And the girls got to
personally deliver it to us,

which was wonderful for them.

And they got to see
what we do here.

Because, you know, even though
prom is our main focus,

it's not the main focus
of the League.

And we got to tell them
about it,

and also tell them about
the Assisteens.

Once again, this event is--
it's not shallow, you know?

[Ann] It's not about a dress.

Right, it's not just about
the stuff.

- It's about so much more.
- Uh-huh. Yeah.

[woman] And it's just such
a great lesson for them.

I feel it really is a great
model for them to look at

and say, "I remember,
when I was in high school,

and these nice people,
look what they did."

[Skype incoming call]

[Ryan] How's it going?

Good! How are you?

- Not too bad.
- Good.

I'm glad to get
the opportunity to talk to you.

Thank you for participating.
Tell us your name.

Uh, my name's Ryan Broyles.

So, Ryan, nice to meet you.
Are you married?

I am married.

I've been married
for six years now,

um, to my high school
sweetheart.

Oh, me too.

Oh, there you go.
So that's promising for me, then.

But I've been married
a really long time.

We won't go into that.
How many children do you have?

I have one little boy,
he's three and a half,

his name's Sebastian.

Did you need
the Assistance League

when you were growing up?

I definitely did.

You know, my parents, um,
they didn't come from much.

Obviously, when they raise
four kids, it's never easy,

um, I'm sure they were making
minimum wage at the time

when were in grade school

and it wasn't easy for them.

So, we definitely needed
Assistance League,

so, we needed summer programs,

we needed just about
every hand we could have.

I mean,
my parents did a good job of being humble enough

to accept those things and,
you know, we've all grown up

and we're trying to make
the best of what we had to begin with.

Two times a year, um,
our principal or secretary

would approach
a select few kids

and say, "Hey, it's our day
to go to School Bell,"

and I always looked
forward to it,

my siblings looked
forward to it,

we knew we were going
to get a winter jacket,

we were going
to get some books,

we were going to get
some school supplies, some new shoes.

Um, so at that time, you know,
it was-- I didn't really think

it was help for my parents,

I thought it was like
a little shopping spree for myself,

but obviously as I got
a little bit older,

I started to realize, you know,

the community did a good job
to help parents out that needed it.

I grew up my whole life playing
football or sports in general.

Um, I got a scholarship
to Oklahoma University

for football
out of high school, played there for four years.

Then I got drafted
by the Detroit Lions,

uh, played there
for four years.

Then retired,

um, and so, now
that actually set me up

for what I'm doing now
in real estate.

Oh, wow!

That's so impressive.

You know, we get pinned--
uh, I guess athletes,

football players,
and we're just "dumb," quote unquote, I guess, but...

And I don't buy
that whole thing about "dumb football players,"

- because...
- Yeah.

...I know what it's like
to be called a dumb blonde, and I'm not.

There's a lot of bright guys
in those locker rooms

and I feel like
I'm one of them.

I strive every day
to continue to learn.

Obviously the NFL
was a blessing for me and my family,

and a lot of connections there,
and now we're off and running.

I actually started a foundation
that's not active anymore,

back in 2012,
when I was in the NFL,

and I got the opportunity
of, um,

donating to our
local School Bell.

Me and my family, we are
always about giving back.

Might not be through
a charity or a foundation,

we do it,
um, just individually now.

So we're always going to give
back, I just heard a story

the other day about
some high school kid,

he might be in 11th grade now,

I went and talked to his school
about ten years ago

when he was in elementary,
and a good friend of mine

was his teacher,
and he happened out of nowhere

to say, "Hey, Ryan Broyles
inspired me.

He came to talk to us
and I want to be like him someday."

And so, that just reminds me,
you know, I've got to continue

to do these things
and I want to give back

to the kid that could
potentially become who I am today.

Um, so,
Operation School Bell

was definitely a big part
of my life.

[narrator] Benefit
performances of plays,

celebrity-attended
charity events,

motion picture location
bureaus,

pay-to-attend parties,
shawl dinners, tea events,

contests and competitions,
garden parties,

public and private
film screenings,

even Robin Hood tournaments

hosted by Douglas Fairbanks,
who was currently

filming Robin Hood,
all in the name of charity.

The newspapers of the day,
again and again,

would write the words...

[journalist]
"In the interest of charity,

the plan having been suggested
by Mrs. Banning."

[narrator]
It was especially Anne's completely new

and original idea
in fundraising of paying to attend

that was an instant success
and would eventually go on

to become a model for
all future charities and non-profits.

In 1925,
still not satisfied,

Anne and the Assistance
League would realize

one of their biggest
and truly unique ambitions.

The Assistance League
would open a day nursery.

Women, mostly those
who worked as extras

and in other positions
within Hollywood,

could, for between
10 and 25 cents a day,

leave their children
to be looked after.

The Assistance League saw
a new and growing need

in Hollywood,
and they seized upon it.

Not only did they provide
these mothers,

many who would not have
had another option,

with a safe place
for their children to be looked after as they worked.

But they created
a business model,

like the thrift shop,
that would allow the League

to collect money
to reinvest in other programs.

The day nursery would grow
and ultimately evolve,

but is always focused
on creating a safe

and educational environment
for the children it serves.

By May of 1926,
the Assistance League

had involvement
in a plethora of annual

and daily programs
and fundraising.

An article
in theLos Angeles Times described the work...

[journalist]
"Besides the day nursery, the Assistance League

operates a thrift shop,
women's exchange,

social service department,

film location bureau,
and several other departments,

forming a well-rounded program
of charity and welfare work."

[narrator] In 1932,
the Los Angeles Times reported that...

[journalist]
"Mrs. Hancock Banning is now managing an organization

that handles more
than $200,000 a year."

[narrator]
That's almost $5 million

in today's dollar.

Even First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt took notice.

In May of 1941, First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt herself

wrote an article titled...

[Eleanor] "My Day."

[narrator] And shared details
about her visit to LA.

[Eleanor]
"From there, we visited the Assistance League,

a really remarkable
organization,

which is sponsored by a number
of Los Angeles women.

I gathered
that Mrs. Hancock Banning

is the most
active and moving force."

[narrator] Eleanor Roosevelt
went on to talk about the day nursery and thrift shop.

Even the First Lady
of the United States

realized the value of what
the Assistance League was doing,

and who the central
force behind it was.

In May of 1936, Anne
and the Assistance League

would take the first steps
into expanding their efforts

on a national level,

by giving the first charter
of the Assistance League.

The Los Angeles Times
reported that...

[journalist] "The first steps
were taken yesterday

by the Assistance League
of Los Angeles...

Mrs. Hancock
Banning presented a charter

to a probationary
organization in San Pedro.

San Pedro Junior
Welfare Society became the first associate chapter

of the group of women."

[narrator]
In just over ten years,

there would be charters
in Orange County,

Glendale, Long Beach,

Pasadena, Pomona Valley,
and Santa Monica

in addition to San Pedro

and the original
Hollywood mother chapter.

These would be the first
of what has grown

into a 120 Assistance League
chapters today.

Back when I was young,
when I had--

my teeth were crooked,
I wouldn't smile.

And if I smiled, I would kind of
cover my mouth like that.

I remember one-- one situation
where I was in summer camp.

You know how in summer camp
they have, uh,

you know, pictures of what
happened during the camp,

and there's a big, you know,
everyone has popcorn,

and watching all the activities
that we did.

I so badly wanted
to be in there,

so people could see
my face having fun,

but the one shot they had
of me was-- it was this angle.

I was laughing-- I was laughing,
I was having a good time,

but it was my teeth blown up
30 feet by 30 feet.

And everyone was laughing,

and no one thought
it was a big deal,

because everyone
knows who I am

and what my teeth
looked like.

But for me,
I was so embarrassed.

Usually at 12 years old,
all your adult teeth

should come in, and my canines
were really crooked.

My canines were out here,
my laterals were in here,

and my front tooth-- so it was
kind of severe crowding.

So, I would go to my dentist
every six months

and I would ask him,
you know, "Can I get braces?"

Because I knew at that time,
I had Denti-Cal,

so they work on a point system,

where if your teeth
are very severe,

that they'll cover it, you know.

But at that time,
my teeth were moderate,

so I didn't have enough points
to get braces through Denti-Cal.

When I was about 16, the dentist
said, "You know what?

You don't have enough points,
and it doesn't really change that much over the years.

Let me refer you
to an orthodontist

that might be able
to help you."

So, that's all he said.

We got the number
to Dr. Nelson Gatov in Long Beach,

he was associated
with the Assistance League of Long Beach.

And when I went there
for an exam,

he chose me
as a patient to help.

[Ann] I'm in the Assistance
League of Long Beach,

talking to Zelda Rice.

- This program is 50 years old.
- It would be 50 years old.

We started just as a program

where we contracted
with some local orthodontists,

and we sent patients there
and we paid for that.

And then, eventually,
we'd have our own center.

[man] When I worked
in private practice,

um, you know, unfortunately,

it's just part of, you know,
the healthcare system,

everything is just
very profit driven.

[Ann] Yes.

And there's, you know,
especially in specialty in--

like, in Southern California
with ortho, you know,

it's very cosmetic,

um, everything is driven
by money and by numbers.

And there's very little
consideration often given to the needs of the patient.

And what's great
about working here

is that I can 100% focus
on the needs of the patient.

Uh, number two, you know,
the kids that we treat here

are kids
that if we didn't treat them,

honestly, nobody would.

We've been around long
enough as an organization

that we're now treating
kids that had kids.

I don't think anyone ever
imagined that, you know,

almost 50 years later,
we'd have our own clinic.

Because I come here every day
as full-time employee,

I have to remind myself often

that most of the ladies
that I see all day are not paid,

they get here because
they love what they're doing.

It was my third year,
is when I took off my braces,

um, and, you know, at that time,
I was a premed student,

it was the first time
I saw my teeth straight,

I was so happy,
I biked all the way back home to my apartment.

And I did research on,
you know, how can I be an orthodontist,

what do I need to do,
so I completely did a 180,

I didn't want
to do medicine anymore.

For me, medicine
would've been wonderful,

but there was no passion
behind it, I would say.

So I just switched
to orthodontics.

Every time I finish braces,

complete treatment
on one of my patients, I see how happy they are.

Right when I graduated
orthodontics school,

I wanted to tell
Dr. Gatov right away.

So I called--

[Ann] He was that doctor
that fixed your teeth.

[Fouy] He started
the whole process.

And if it wasn't for him,
I don't know what I would be doing.

He was really happy about
me reaching out to him.

So we had-- we met up,
we had lunch,

and we went
to the Assistance League,

at the new--
at the new location.

He showed me,
gave me a tour,

he showed me
the new orthodontic clinic.

And I was just like-- for me,
it was a really sweet, magical moment for me,

because he made
a big difference in my life.

And I know I was
just a patient to him,

and he probably had thousands
of patients that he helped,

but when I look at him,
he's my hero.

He was able to take me on,
help me,

and just kind of catapulted me
into, you know,

eventually dentistry,
being an orthodontist.

[Ann] And now you're a--
you have children,

you fix their teeth
and you are their hero.

Yeah, I have a lot
of patients here,

and I love just interacting
with patients

and helping them,
and, you know,

because I remember
how it helped me.

And kids that don't have
enough points,

I usually try to make
the payment plan affordable as possible.

I-- sometimes I stretch it out--
even though a treatment time

could be 18 months, I could
stretch it out to 30 months

and try to make it work
for them as much as possible.

And I tell them too,
that I had Denti-Cal too.

"My parents couldn't afford it,
let's see what I can do for you."

Assistance League, Dr. Gatov,

just everyone has helped.

I always think about that.

My full name
is Melissa Marie Culver,

I go by Missy
because of my family.

And you are in what city?

Las Vegas, Nevada.

So you've been helped by
the Las Vegas Assistance League.

- Yes.
- I understand you contacted Anne Asks.

I've seen that you guys
are doing a documentary

for Operation School Bell,

and I was involved
with that with my son.

When were
you involved with the--

Uh, just October.

And your son,
he could use some clothing?

Yes, at the time, very much so.

We were homeless,
um, we still currently are,

but we have a home
to live in right now,

um, with some friends.

And at the time,
it really helped us a lot,

um, because it took
a big toll off of me.

How old is your son?

He's 11 years old.

- I see.
- Yes.

And can you tell me
what happened

in your case
that made you homeless?

Me and my husband separated,

I lost my mom four years
prior to that, um, of cancer,

I lost my job.

Um, and once that happened,
I just-- I felt lost,

I didn't have anybody in Vegas.

And so, uh, five years ago now,
I lost my twin brother.

And basically just all of that,

making the wrong decisions
in my life,

and running to alcohol.

Like I basically was
going to take my life.

But then I thought about
my kids, and I thought about--

"It's not worth it,
life's too short already,

you need to pull out of this
and get yourself together."

And that's what I did.

Are those the reasons
you started drinking?

Um, more so my brother.

Just, um--
I'm going to cry, I'm sorry.

Um, the cutting point is where

I never thought
my brother would leave me on this earth without him.

You know, I lost my brother
too, so, I have never gotten over it.

That's my twin.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- No, but yours was a twin.
- It was very bad.

Twin, yes.

That's really losing
a part of yourself.

Yeah, very much.

- I'm so sorry.
- Yeah. Thank you, thank you.

And now,
are things turning around?

Totally.

I ran back to God,
I'm sorry, I have.

And, um, I just know
that's not what my mom and my brother want.

- So...
- No, it's not.

It's not what your children
want either.

Yes, of course.

And I think my son
being there with me,

at the time when we've been
to Shade Tree and, you know,

different, um, shelters
in Vegas and him being there

with me has really pulled me
out of it, like tremendously.

- Really?
- Yeah.

I think, um, him staying with me
throughout this process,

um, it was kind of a learning
experience, but also,

I didn't really want him
to see that side of, you know, of life.

But it came down
to that he did

and I just think
we're so much more humble

and, you know, just trying
to get back up,

when you ask God
to take it all from you,

I mean, it's in an instant.

But when you get back up,
and you're doing it by yourself,

oh, it makes it
so much more rewarding.

Now that you've got
all this behind you.

- Yes.
- And a lot in front of you...

Thank God I'm sober now, though.

I'm very proud of you.
How long have you been sober?

A year and eight months.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you.

The bad choices that I've made,

and, um, the holes that
I always say I've dug for myself,

um, coming out of that
by myself,

and like totally
stopping everything

and realizing
there's more to life

than just that life, you know?

I'm going so much further now.

It's taken-- It's going
to take me a lot longer,

but I'm going to get there.

How did your son respond

to getting these clothing
for school?

Oh, God,
he loved-- yeah.

He's-- His, uh, personality
went up so much,

knowing that he had
a new pair of shoes,

and he just love shoes,
so he's like, "Yeah, Mom!"

And there was, um, holes
in his socks a little bit,

and, there was in his, you
know, underwears and stuff,

so he was really happy
to get that.

Because, you know,
it just makes you feel better

whenever you have
new items, you know?

I love it!
That's the way I felt, exactly.

Yes.

I'm going
to volunteer here also.

That-- that's wonderful!

I have to give back
somewhere, you know?

If somebody's helping me,
I have-- it has to come full circle at all times.

We have people who have
been helped when they were kids,

- who are helping...
- Yes.

...as adults.

Yes, yeah. And I think that
that's what everybody should do,

is like if you've been helped,
for the people who want help

and need the help, I think
that we should be giving back.

What is your definition
of succeeding?

I don't need
a whole plate of food,

I just need half that plate,
please.

That's all, you know?

I don't want millions, I just
want to make it, that's all.

And I want my kids
to be like that.

I want them to help people
along the way.

Well, you're setting a good
example, that's for sure.

Thank you, Ms. Ann,
thank you so much.

- [slot machines chiming]
- [coins clinking]

[Ann] Jonathan, I've looked
forward to meeting you

for such a long time.

Ever since Paul found you,
tell me all about yourself.

So, when I was little,
we moved to Las Vegas, right?

And we had
been here a few years, and it was just my mom and I.

My mom got laid off,
and so we ended up having

to move to the Shade Tree
homeless shelter.

And while I was
at the homeless shelter,

um, my counselor had been
constantly checking up on me,

seeing how I'm doing,
what's going on, you know?

Because it's a little bit
of a stressful environment in there.

And, uh, he said there
was this program called

Operation School Bell,
and that they'll take me

to a place and get me
some clean clothes, fresh shoes.

My morale was lifted,
if that makes sense.

[Ann]
Of course it does.

How did you get started giving
back to Operation School Bell?

[Jonathan]
So, definitely through Starbucks.

I did lots of work
with children, you know?

But not School Bell.

And there was another
store manager

who had been setting up
School Bell events.

And I went to one
and we started just doing that

and I started to go
to School Bell events more and more.

I had already been
volunteering like for a year,

and then one day I was
finally like, "You know,

I actually went to School Bell,"
and they were like, "What?"

Like just, totally,
everyone was like,

"You came to School Bell
as a kid?"

I was like, "Yeah,"
you know?

"And that's why I really
like to come back

and like give back
to the people who gave to me."

The first child that I got
to help, his name was Tyler.

He's probably like yea tall.

Um, but we were going through,
and you could tell

it was his first
experience ever

getting to like choose
his own clothing.

And as we were going through,
and we got to the fitting rooms,

and he was
trying on the clothes, it was really obvious

like he was wearing
his dad's pants,

and he was probably like,
I don't know, very small,

and you could've wrapped
the pants around him like three times.

But you could tell for him,
because we were going through

and he was getting
to choose things,

he kept saying things
like, "This is mine?

Like just for me?"

And so, I just remember
leaving that day feeling

like that's
what this is all about,

we get to make the difference
for a child that,

um, is less fortunate
than myself.

So, I'm John.

Nice to meet you, John.

Hi. What was your name?

- Mathew.
- Mathew?

William. And Oko?

Awesome, awesome, yeah.

I came here as a kid,
and I actually did full circle

and I come back
and volunteer my time,

I'm here at least once a month,
you know,

to help out as much
as I possibly can.

Because I really like
being here, so.

I think it's pretty great.

I hope that when you
grow up and you get older,

you'll come back and help too.

- Actually, it is nice,
that would keep you really warm. - That's nice.

Yeah.

This is interesting.

This is my mother Sandy.

- Hi, Sandy!
- Hello.

Uh, it's a pleasure
to have you here.

Today was your first day...

[Sandy]
At Operation School Bell, yeah.

[Ann] And how was that?
I watched--

[Sandy]
It was amazing. It was amazing.

[Ann] You were amazing!
You would've thought you have been doing it for years.

You fit right in and you--

I just knew
what it meant to him,

so I took that as what
it could mean to these children.

[Ann] You just did great,
you really did.

How did you--
Did you feel good about it?

[Sandy] Oh, absolutely!
And you know what?

Especially,
what was his name? Mathew?

- [Ann] Mathew.
- Holy moly!

Do you know--
Did you see the change in him?

Because he was so shy
in the beginning,

and by the end, when he--

He took my hand by the end.

Oh, I missed that.

I was so thrilled!

[Sandy]
Oh, I missed that.

[Ann] I can't tell you, he was
just a different person.

[Sandy] He really was.

To be here together,
actually is more emotional

than I would have
thought it to...

you know, it is.

To give back to something
that helped bring hope

to us in a dark time.

And maybe doing that
for someone else, you know?

Some other child might
go home tonight

and bring to their mother
what he brought to me.

[Ann] And he'll--
Mathew will remember you.

You know,
they will remember you.

I know they go away,

and you're all tied up
in that story for them.

Are you going to continue
to come here?

Oh, absolutely, absolutely.
It gave me hope.

- [Ann] Yeah.
- [Sandy] You know?

[Ann] Yes.

[woman] So, the next program
that I'm going to show you is Kids On The Block.

[Ann] Okay.

My goodness!

Oh, are these wonderful!

[woman] So this is our
Kids On The Block program.

And this is actually
a national program

that started in Washington D.C.

by a teacher,
uh, many years ago,

that she created
a puppet and a script,

because they were mainstreaming
children with disabilities

into the schools.

And this is the first puppet
that was created,

this is Mark Riley,
and he's got cerebral palsy.

And when she created
the program,

Mark became such a hit

that she actually turned it
into a business.

The puppets that you see here
all belong to a certain script,

we have different scripts,
and our two most popular

are about bullying
and alternatives to violence.

So this is Valerie.

[Ann] Hi, Valerie.

And you can see
that she's got braces on her legs.

- Oh, my.
- But you can put your hand in here.

That's...

- And then...
- Oh, I see.

You could actually join
Kids On The Block

- and become
one of our puppeteers. - Hello.

Hi, Valerie.
How are you?

"I'm fine."

And it's amazing
because the children

actually will talk
to the puppets.

I want to talk to you.

Hello, Mary.
Nice to meet you.

Oh, I know you can
hold your head up.

It's so nice to meet you.

It's nice to see somebody
who's older than me.

How long has this program
been going on?

Uh, this program's been going on
for a little over 33 years.

- My goodness!
- Yes.

33 years.

That's amazing.

That's really fabulous.

[woman] There's
thousands of children that see the puppet program.

- [Ann] Really?
- [woman] Yes.

How lucky.

They must adore it.

- These are so...
- I feel like that they like the puppets.

Fabulous.

Tiffany, I want to thank you
for talking to us

and telling us your story.

It's not an easy story to tell.

Would you tell us about
what happened to you?

[Tiffany]
So, I was living in Atlanta,

and I was sexually assaulted
by a coworker.

And I went to the Cobb County,

like the general hospital
in the area,

and I had
a rape examination done.

Rape isn't something
that people like commonly

have these conversations about,

and unless you've
experienced it, it's like a whole different world.

They swab your mouth and your--

anywhere that that person
could've touched.

It lasted probably over
six and a half hours long.

Um, a lot of poking,
prodding, uh, very invasive.

And after that, they took
my clothes in as evidence,

and so I kind of freaked out,
because the only thing I had on

was this hospital gown
and my own socks.

Because my socks weren't
the ones that I had on

when I got raped.

So they take everything from
the assault as evidence.

And so they bagged
all my clothes up

and put them
in a like a sealed box or bag,

and took them out of the room.

And this really nice lady
from the Cobb County Rape Crisis Center,

she's a volunteer that came in
and we sang together

"This Little Light of Mine."

Um, so that was helpful.

And then they took my clothes
and then, I mentioned before, I freaked out,

but then she said,
"Hold on, don't-- you know, don't worry about it,

I'll get you something
for you."

She came back with that kit
from the Atlanta Assistance League...

So everything that you needed
to wear was in that package?

This is something similar
to what I received

from the Atlanta
Assistance League.

And this is their
Assault Survivor Kit.

Here's like the--
like Hanes top...

um, and the bottoms.

They do two kits,
they do a winter kit

and then a summer kit.

This is a winter kit,
so I got raped in March,

so it was
still considered winter.

Um,
so it was still cold outside, here go the socks.

And the sports bra.

And they have the kits
like according to sizes,

like whatever size you are.

Um, so like small, medium,
large, or extra-large.

You know, these are
the underwear.

These are the toiletries,
toothpaste, toothbrush.

So that you can stop, like--
I know was able

to shower after the exam.

That was when I got to shower,
and that was at the hospital.

[Ann] You live in Michigan now,

tell me, how did you remember
that that was provided

for you from the Assistance
League in Atlanta?

Within the year
after my-- my rape, I moved back to Michigan.

And three years after that,
I opened my business.

There's something called
merchant forums,

and they're held monthly,
and like businesses come

and you get ideas.

And I was there one night,
and this lady

came from the Assistance League
with these pamphlets,

and she was telling
everybody about what the Assistance League did.

And she mentioned
the ask kit for survivors

of assault
and domestic violence.

And I said,
"Can I have one of those?"

And so I took it,
and I couldn't remember what the organization was

that gave me
my assault survivor kit.

I couldn't remember
their name, but I said,

"If I see their logo, then
I'll know that that's them."

It was them,
but now in Michigan.

So there's
the Michigan chapter.

I received the kit
from the Atlanta chapter.

I get excited like if I--

getting excited about something
that I talk like so fast,

like... [warbling]
and then people are like,

"Oh, my God,
what are you saying?"

And then immediately,
like the next day,

I went into the store,
and was, you know,

probably even faster
telling my story.

And they were like,
"Okay, we'll get you in touch with someone,"

and they put me
in touch with Jan.

And Jan invited me to speak
at one of the luncheons,

they hold
like this monthly luncheons.

Sometimes you do things
and you don't know

if it's helping people, right?

So I wanted them to see
that their work wasn't in vain

and give them a face like,
yes, there are real people,

and, you know, like,
even though I was in Atlanta

and received their-- a kit
from that Assistance League,

people move around, and people
still-- real people benefit,

and even people in your
neighborhood have benefited

from this particular program

that was launched
by the Assistance League.

So one of the women
that were in the audience

at that particular luncheon
came up to me

and shared her own
personal story with me.

I was working on a program

to do something like community
outreach for my business,

so that's when I came up
with the idea of doing

the Granny Panty Drive

and donating the items
to the Assistance League.

How do you have
difficult conversations?

Well, the one way to have
a difficult conversation

is to at least, you know,
make somebody smile.

So the first year, we got over
4,300 pair of underwear.

And it was just me asking
people to bring packs

of underwear to my studio,
and then we would donate

those panties to the Assistance
League of Michigan.

I am a survivor,
and this is my reality,

so I was Tiffany before,
I'm Tiffany now.

And what I want people
to know about me is that I care.

[Anne] "People love to help
others and are happy in service."

[narrator] Anne would be quoted
as saying throughout her life.

She would prove it too.

Through Anne's numerous
personal actions,

but also through the many
people who, over the decades,

would selflessly
answer the call to help their communities and beyond.

Hollywood has long been
thought of as a self-centered,

vain, and greedy industry,
but Anne would prove otherwise.

Time and again, for decades,
movie studios, producers,

actors, directors, and others,
many very wealthy and famous,

would graciously donate
goods and money,

but more importantly,
their time.

They would serve as waitresses
in tearoom fundraisers.

They would attend auctions
or thrift store events

to personally
deliver items they were selling to raise funds.

They would be on hand
to directly interact

with the public at premieres
and fundraisers,

further bringing truth
to the old Assistance League motto,

"All for service,
and service for all."

On December 19th, 1951,

Mrs. Anne Hancock Banning died.

She was 80 years old
and had filled most of her life,

certainly the last half,
almost entirely with helping others.

Her days, until the end,
were focused on helping

those who needed,
and, she believed, deserved help.

While in many ways she had
a life of privilege,

she never thought
that was enough.

[Anne] A social heritage
is deserved only so far

as it is used for service
to those who have fewer opportunities.

[narrator] If value is based
solely on how you help others,

then Anne's worth would be
truly immeasurable.

The infinity symbol should
figure prominently

next to her name,
since what she started, joined,

created, dreamed so long ago,
continues on today

with lives being
directly changed and helped.

Probably the best example
of Anne Banning's work

and legacy being continued
would come in the form

of another innovative
and dynamic woman,

who even shared her name.

Ruth Ann Montgomery was working
as a teacher at North Hollywood High School

in North Hollywood, California,
in the 1950s.

At that time,
the San Fernando Valley,

which was just north
of Los Angeles and Hollywood,

was an eclectic area.

Hollywood, in its wealth,
was a stone's throw away.

But the San Fernando Valley
itself was still mostly a rural area,

with citrus groves
and farms.

This meant that Ruth's class
was filled with children

of movie stars
and also children of migrant farm workers.

The discrepancy of wealth,
similar to today,

would be seen no more clearer
than in the clothes

the children she taught wore.

In fact, Ruth discovered
that many families

rotated their children
through attending school,

because they shared
the same clothes.

Ruth Ann, like Anne before her,
did not hesitate to ask

the wealthier parents to
donate hand-me-down clothes.

Ruth Ann even began storing
these used clothes in a closet

in her classroom
and gave them out to students who needed them.

This was
only a partial solution

since many of the children
from wealthier families

would recognize
their hand-me-downs

and then make fun
of the kids wearing them.

The seed was planted, though.

Ruth Ann began dreaming of
a way to pass along good used clothes

to the less fortunate
children without anyone knowing.

In 1954, Ruth Ann
and her husband, Bob Montgomery,

and their two children,
with another on the way,

moved to Bob's hometown
of Bakersfield, California.

It would be here that
Ruth Ann would follow

in Anne's footsteps
and establish her own legacy.

When Paul and I first
went to Universal

and saw these little children
being dressed,

it was amazing to see
for the first time.

I had no idea a program
like this existed.

But I've learned so much more
about the program since.

How really vast the program is,
how many people they help,

people of all ages,
not just Operation School Bell.

And they've started
this new program,

and it's called
Launching Literacy.

And it is to take these little
children in kindergarten

and first grade, and give them
a leg up in reading.

"'That's disgusting,'
the entire table said."

"'It's actually the perfect mix
of salty and sweet.

You should try it sometime.'"

[laughter, applause]

[woman] So,
these are little teddy bears,

and we give them
to several agencies.

They go to
the police department, the fire department,

ambulances,
rape crisis centers.

Basically, they're there
to comfort a child

when they have
encountered a child in a traumatic situation.

We have a festival
every year for the children

at the preschool,
so beautiful photos from that.

- Another mentoring program.
- A mentoring program.

And the nice part about Cameo,
these are professional women,

uh, who help mentor
high school students

and reentry women
from Long Beach City College.

The one program
we haven't talked about is called ALa Carte,

and it stands
for like Assistance League,

- so it's called ALa Carte.
- [Ann] Yes.

[woman] And we have volunteers
that go to Miller Children's

& Women's Hospital
here in Long Beach.

This is intended for children

who cannot go
to the activities room,

so they provide
bedside activities,

games, arts and crafts.

They often will provide
respite for the parents,

so that they can take a break.

And they see about
200 to 250 children a month.

So, originally,
it was this day nursery

and kindergarten for children.

That was in the 1920s,
that was the foundation.

And then over the years
it developed

and became what it is today,
which is a preschool.

And we have nine staff
at that preschool.

It opens at 7:30 in the morning

and it closes at 6:30 at night.

We take care of them
all day long.

The teachers speak--
between the nine of them,

they speak seven
different languages.

Here's another picture
of our preschool graduation.

- You can see how proud she is.
- Yes, absolutely.

And their families
are equally proud, believe me, it's amazing.

The parents,
when their five-year-olds walk down the aisle

in a cap and gown,
it's amazing.

We have a program
called AL's Closet,

Assistance League's Closet.

We're in 52, uh,
at-risk schools now.

So, it's-- it's the same
clothing, basically,

that we have
in Operation School Bell,

but we give the school
a budget,

it's for emergency needs
of that school.

So, if somebody
has an accident,

a small child has an accident,
there are clothes for that.

I've heard teachers
say that, you know, sometimes they've changed out ten shoes,

because the child
just could not get their shoes on

and she said,
"And I looked at it,

I gave this little boy
a pair of shoes

that were two sizes
bigger than the pair that he had on his feet

when he came
into school that day."

Uh, we provide scholarships
to Long Beach City College

and Cal-State Long Beach
students,

and then also
a music scholarship

to Long Beach
Unified School District.

More photos on the wall
from the theater,

and a performance,
and a thank-you note

to the Nine O'clock Players,
our theater program.

We also do a program called
Hope High, where we've, uh, partnered

with another non-profit in town.

They deal strictly with
homeless high school students.

And we were looking
to expand our programs,

and they made the comment to us
that what they really needed

were good quality backpacks,

because a homeless
high school student could,

you know,
live inside of that backpack.

It's the book bag,
it's the food pantry, it's the closet.

And they were getting donations,
but they weren't the quality

that were going to stand up for
more than, you know, a week

before straps were starting
to break or zippers--

Yeah. Then we found some--
a great price point

on some designer backpacks.

I mean a label that every other
child was probably carrying,

you are not being
labeled as carrying a--

"Look, she's got
an Assistance League backpack."

You could
be any other child at school.

Sure. Sure.

I could use two words
to describe Assistance League,

and the words would be
"transforming lives."

That is in
our mission statement.

But those are the two most
important words that we have.

I think that transforming
lives says it all.

- [Ann] It does.
- [Joanne] It does.

[narrator] In 1956,
the Assistance League,

as a tribute to its founder,

would welcome the Anne Banning
Auxiliary to the League,

with the aim to perpetuate
Mrs. Banning's ideals

of community service.

Also in 1956,
Ruth Ann Montgomery,

now comfortably settled
into her home

of Bakersfield, California,
and her role of activist,

continued building upon
her idea of a closet filled with used clothing

that could be handed out
to needy kids.

In fact,
for a few years prior,

Ruth Ann
and a group of 23 women, had been collecting,

sorting, and laundering
used clothes.

At one point, even using
one of the women's garage

as the collection point.

In 1956, they named themselves
the Volunteer Service Guild.

And their program
continued to be extremely

well-received
by the local community.

Also during this time,
helping with public relations,

was charter member
Winnie Davis' husband Tom.

Tom Davis,
a World War II veteran,

knew military terminology,

Tom also understood
that you couldn't start anything

until you had a name
for your mission.

It would be Tom who assigned
their noble venture

the name Operation School Bell.

Like Anne before her,
Ruth Ann still imagined

something more,
something larger.

So Ruth Ann studied
and researched

various non-profits before
deciding the Assistance League

would be a perfect fit.

How right she would be.

On May 28th, 1958,

Ruth Ann's Volunteer
Service Guild would become

the 23rd chapter
of the Assistance League.

By 1965,
Operation School Bell

was adopted
by the volunteer members

of the Anne Banning Auxiliary

to provide used clothing
to school children

from kindergarten
through high school.

A fitting tribute
to Ruth Ann's idea and Anne's legacy.

Operation School Bell
has grown exponentially

since its inception,
while also becoming

a signature program
of the Assistance League.

In July, 1997,
the national board voted

to make Operation School Bell
a national program.

All new charters to the League
are required to have

an Operation School Bell
program.

In 2008, Ruth Ann was honored
at the national conference,

as the person who started
Operation School Bell.

Thanks to Ruth Ann Montgomery
and through generous donors

and countless
hard-working volunteers,

Operation School Bell
has now directly helped

millions of children
across the United States.

Operation School Bell
has also helped to solidify

Mrs. Anne Hancock Banning's
legacy of activism and charity,

and proves that one man,
or woman,

can forever change the world
if they have an idea

and are willing
to follow it through.

If Anne and Ruth Ann,
and the hundreds

of thousands of women
who came before,

could see the Assistance
League today

and what their actions
have set into motion,

they might have felt
quite satisfied.

Or maybe they'd just be
inspired to do more.

What I am certain of
is that we, you and I,

carry this torch on
to inspire future generations.

It appears Anne was really on
to something, when in 1938,

she was quoted as saying,

"People love to help others
and are happy in service."

The Assistance League's
original motto

is no less truer today
than it was over a hundred years ago--

"All for service
and service for all."

[Ann] It's one year
since we started this,

and, golly, we've learned
so much,

and we've done so many things,
met so many people,

seen so many children
excited and thrilled

to be a part
of Operation School Bell,

watching everybody being
helped and helping others.

[girl]
"Dear Assistance League,

thank you so much for
the backpack and uniforms."

[boy]
"Dear Operation School Bell,

thank you for all
the glorious things."

[girl 2]
"Dear Assistance League,

I'm excited to come to school.

Thank you for all the stuff
you gave me and my friends."

[girl 3] "When I grow up,
I will help children

like you do."

[girl 4] "Thank you so
much for the backpack,

I really enjoyed the school
supplies and clothes,

they fitted good and I got
to use the supplies for homework."

[boy 2] "Thank you
for the uniforms,

I'm so happy
that I have new clothes."

[girl 5] "I appreciate
this awesome backpack."

[overlapping voices]

[woman] "We wanted
to thank you so much

for everything you do."

[child] "Dear Operation
School Bell."

[children] "Thank you,
Operation School Bell!"

[overlapping voices]

[children] "Thank you,
Operation School Bell!"

[Ann] I'm glad I joined
this organization,

it touched me in a way
that I can't even explain.

All I know is,
when I first came,

watching these kids,
it made me cry.

Here I am a year later,
and I'm about to cry

right on camera, I'm sorry.

But I love what we've done,

and I'm so proud
to be a part of it.

And... I hope you enjoy
what you're watching.

- [crickets chirping]
- [owl hooting]