Hearts in Action

At the heart of every thriving community are people who show up week after week, year after year, to make a difference. The partnership between West Valley College’s Office of Student Needs and the Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga (ALLGS) is a shining example of what happens when dedicated volunteers and campus leaders come together with a shared mission: supporting students and families in need.

Helping Parenting Students
Studies show that parental education level is linked to the academic and economic success of their children and that increasing the educational attainment of parents produces a multiplier effect of increasing family income and helping more children succeed in school. In the spirit of giving its parenting students as much support as possible to achieve their academic goals, West Valley College launched a program three years ago designed for its parenting students. With the help of Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga, the program is thriving.

Last month, the Office of Student Needs hosted an outdoor, family-friendly event for its parenting students. Attended by 178 guests, the carnival style event featured fun, interactive activities and exciting giveaways. For example, the first 50 parenting students received gas and grocery gift cards, as well as a gift card to eat on campus. Throwing this type of event takes a village, and the ALLGS volunteers stepped up to the challenge. Samantha Hernandez, Program Director of the Office of Student Needs, explained “ALLGS members Ellen Fratzke, Sue Darchuk, and Gladie Rabitz led the effort. They created a STEM activity for the kids, which was super fun. They brought all their supplies, managed their volunteer rotation for the two-hour event, and once again, showed our parenting students that people in the community care about their success.”

In addition to helping at the April event, this special group mobilized its members to organize a diaper, wipes, and onesie drive, and they provided wrapped holiday gifts for parenting students’ children. These acts of generosity are incredibly inspiring to our staff, who love seeing how ALLGS rallies its members to come together to collect essential items and thoughtful gifts. 

Ellen Fratzke serves as Vice President Philanthropic Programs for ALLGS. Ellen shared that the partnership with West Valley College has been very meaningful for their members. She described their thought process for choosing the Office of Student Needs as a partner:

“When our chapter looked at partnering with the Office of Student Needs we asked ourselves the following questions: Will our participation add significant value towards helping people in our community? Will our chapter members be able to participate in a way that is interesting to them and makes them feel like they are making an impact? Can we have a productive relationship with Sam and the Office staff? All of the above questions were answered with a resounding YES!"

A Helping Hand, Every Week
In addition to their support of our parenting students, you can now find ALLGS members staffing the Cohn Family Food Pantry at West Valley College. Every week, ALLGS volunteers are greeting students with a smile, checking IDs, tracking visits, and ensuring everyone gets the food they need. Their presence is essential. “We now have 17 official Assistance League volunteers for the pantry.” says Samantha Hernandez, “Before that, we were stretching our student ambassadors thin. Now the ambassadors can focus on other projects and we don’t have to close the pantry just because our team is committed elsewhere on campus.”

A Partnership Built on Joy and Impact
We're thrilled to hear that volunteers find deep meaning in their work with West Valley College. As Gladie Rabitz, Co-Chair of the ALLGS committee for the WVC Office of Student Needs, says:

“For me personally, it's been a joy to work with always-cheerful Sam, her wonderful and supportive student ambassadors, and the many students and their families that we've encountered in the programs and events we've collaborated on this year.”

A Community United
The impact of ALLGS volunteers reaches far beyond our parenting students and food pantry visitors. Their commitment to hands-on service, creative problem-solving, and genuine care for students and families is a gift to the entire West Valley College community. Ellen Fratzke says “We've created a true partnership that we hope to continue for years to come.” Samantha Hernandez echoes that sentiment, “It gives me hope that there are more organizations that have members like this. I hope this partnership inspires others to spring into action, too. When a community comes together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish."