GLADSTONE — Assistance League of Kansas City will celebrate the grand opening of its new Program Center Thursday, Sept. 19, according to a press release.

The reception starts at 4:30 p.m. at 6101 N. Chestnut St., Gladstone. At 5:30 p.m., the ceremony moves across the street to 6006 N. Chestnut St. for the ribbon cutting and tours of the new program center.

The center is the new home of Operation School Bell. Operation School Bell provides new school clothes, shoes, socks, underwear, hats, gloves, scarves, personal care kits and books to approximately 4,000 at-risk children in Clay, Platte and Jackson counties each school year.

The new, larger center provides additional storage and inventory space. Expanding this program allows Assistance League to serve more children with streamlined efficiency and meet increasing requests from additional area school districts, states the release.

During its last fiscal year, Assistance League of Kansas City served more than 18,000 children and adults, providing a total of 67,171 volunteer service hours to its organization through its community programs. For additional information about Assistance League of Kansas City, visit alkc.org.