If you have yet to hear about Assistance League of San Antonio, not only are you missing out on a thrift store that has won the MySA BEST Thrift Store in San Antonio for 2025 but also on a chance to give back to your community.

If you’ve been searching for a great volunteer opportunity, consider Assistance League of San Antonio. Over the years, this organization has served over 1.5 million individuals in our community and has returned close to over $15M dollars back to the community.

Assistance League was founded in California in 1919 as the first nonprofit, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization to recognize the potential of volunteers helping those less fortunate to a better, more meaningful life. 

Assistance League of San Antonio became the 76th chapter in 1988. Our organization has been serving Bexar County children in need and their families for 41 years. Today we have 324 members and 47 community volunteers—women and men—serving this demographic through six charitable programs. During the 2024-2025 year, our volunteers contributed over 69,195 hours to serve 37,040 children and adults in our community.

There is a great need for services for children here. Nearly one-fifth of the children of Bexar County live at or below the poverty line. Knowing that, we continually look for ways to improve and expand our programs and services and to raise funds to do so. 

Each of our six programs involves outreach to schools and agencies that identify children and families in need. We have developed great, long-lasting relationships with Bexar County Title 1 schools, administrators and family support counselors who identify those we ultimately serve. 

Operation School Bell®: Provides brand new clothing and supplies to school-aged children in Title I schools in Bexar County—kindergarten thru 5th grade. 

Togs for Tots: Provides clothing for infants and preschoolers— Newborn to five years— through referrals from community and Bexar County agencies.

I’m In Charge: Provides personal safety presentations to elementary school children primarily in Title 1 schools. I’m In Charge also provides child safety presentations for parents. 

CAPS (Caps Art Promotes Smiles): provides decorated ball caps and knitted hats to chronically ill children and adults.  

College Scholarships: Assistance League of San Antonio awards scholarships to qualified students attending colleges and universities in Bexar County.

Enhanced Learning Awards: Guide schools in developing and funding programs that are innovative, impactful, and meet a larger population of students satisfying STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics), STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), STAAR (State Test of Assessments of Academic Readiness), and TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills).

Our Bexar Hugs Auxiliary offers school supplies and comfort items such as stuffed bears and duffel bags for children in shelters. ALamo Bears provides stuffed bears to the Bexar County Sheriff’s office to distribute to children in need of comfort due to family issues. In 2024-2025, 254 children were impacted by this program. ALamo Totes provides duffel bags filled with personal care items and toys for children in the ChildSafe, SAMMinisteries shelters and in Haven for Hope. In 2024-2025, 310 children and their families were impacted by this program. 

In June 2024, Assistance League of San Antonio moved the operations of its charitable programs into a newly renovated building at 2711 West Avenue – The Harvey E. Najim Programs Building. That move created more space for the expansion and renovation of the Thrift House, completed in just two weeks in December 2025.

Our award-winning Thrift House exists to serve our mission and fund those programs. Entirely run by Assistance League of San Antonio volunteers, the revenue generated from Thrift House sales provides 75% of the funding for our programs. 

Other sources of funding include our annual Clothe A Child fundraiser, grants, donations and bequests from members and friends.

Volunteer! Our charitable programs and the Thrift House are 100% volunteer run. Our Thrift House staff have cultivated relationships with estate sale companies which allow us to collect furniture and other items from unsold items at estate sales. This process provides us with a higher quality of inventory for the Thrift House; another reason Thrift House is #1 among local and area thrift stores. Thrift House isn’t in it for profit. It’s in it for the children.

The key to the success of Assistance League of San Antonio has been, and always will be, the member volunteers who put in thousands of hours working to serve the community. It’s a passion that is inspirational and contagious and prompts others to join our never-ending effort to make a difference in a child’s life a few hours at a time. Please visit the addresses below for a heartwarming video and to visit our website for more information on how to join this wonderful organization as a member or as a community volunteer.

Website: www.assistanceleague.org/san-antonio/

The award-winning Thrift House is located at 2611 West Avenue, open 10am-2pm Tuesday-Friday, Saturdays 11am-3pm and is closed Sunday and Monday.