We are super grateful to have a place like Ronald McDonald! My daughter is recovering from a heart…read moresurgery and getting ready for a heart transplant. Being local to Stanford is necessary just in case of an emergency and this place is a blessing to us! I do have to say this place needs more cameras to avoid disguising people making a mess everyone! I hate entitled people who think they can make a mess and have someone clean it up. The staff is always super friendly. We are raising funds for a heart transplant please reach out to me directly for information on how you can help us share the fundraiser link. Just sharing it in your social media will help us enormously!

Really nice place for families that need a place while children are in the hospital. Place Is…read moreclean and has great resources

I've worked with Alison to organize a Holiday Volunteer Day for my company, TrialPay. We always…read morehave a great time setting up the Toy Store and we feel lucky we can be a small part of making the holiday's special for local kids who may otherwise not get any presents. This will be our 5th Year volunteering with them and we couldn't be happier to support the great work they do!

Unprofessional. Do not donate to these people…read more CSA advised me to get a 3-day pay-or-quit notice from my landlord. They said they'd put me on a waitlist for rental assistance. So I did that. Three months later, CSA hadn't even contacted my landlord. My landlord refused to accept my offer for partial rent and has proceeded with eviction. One of the women there, Jocelyn (or Jacklyn?), is always neurotic and hostile to me. I have no idea why.

Great services provided for low income and marginalized groups. I appreciate the food distribution…read moreand back to school backpacks for the kids. More importantly I'm grateful for the ESL classes and the Community Leader program lead by Paulina Zapata. However, it's a shame that she is no longer there due to budget cuts. Her work ethics and commitment to the Sunnyvale Community Services Mission has enabled great programs to develop, especially within the Latino community leading to receiving numerous awards. Leadership should truly take a good look at themselves and their decision making, because this was definitely a hasty decision made on their part.

I came here to donate time to pack food for people in need. It seems like a bunch of local…read morecompanies donate their time. When I was there, a group of employees from Salesforce was there. All in all, it was a great volunteering opportunity. Come with clothes you don't mind getting dirty; bring drinks and expect that this will take several hours.

I love being a BUILD mentor. Once a week, you and two other mentors meet with a group of 4-5 high…read moreschool students and help them develop a business idea. They create a PowerPoint presentation, participate in 3 showcases and submit a written business plan based on their product. This culminates into a business plan competition where they compete against other BUILD teams from nearby high schools. It's held at Stanford's GSB and is a huge accomplishment for the kiddos. My team Star Mentality came in 2nd place and it was amazing to see them present their product with poise, maturity, and humor. The memorable moments include taking them out on a Saturday looking for outfits to wear at the competition or eating dinner with them at Chili's prepping for the showcases. The kids made this an amazing experience. I've volunteered with Big Brothers and Big Sisters since high school and this is an equally awesome program. So awesome, I'm returning as an E2 mentor. I'm getting my team ready to meet a real venture capitalist in order to secure funding to start their business. If you can't commit to mentoring, volunteer to be a tutor. You'll love it!

BUILD is one of the most well funded, connected and professionally run non-profits I've…read moreencountered. I found them through the Cisco Volunteer Fair and what stood out compared to the other after-school program is their huge college acceptance rate and their approach using entrepreneurship to incentivize students that are just bouncing at school. They have branches in the East Bay and Peninsula and I know people who are very dedicated to the cause. Their Peninsula office looks like a tech startup. I signed up to be a mentor. To be a mentor is like applying to school and job all over again. You have a phone interview, need to provide references, and write essays on why you want to be a part of BUILD. They do a background check on you because you're working with children. I volunteered on the Peninsula E1 with Woodside High School paired with a co-mentor with 5 students. Jacyln, the BUILD rep, was there every day and a great resource for us and Mr Moses, the teacher was a great person to reign in the kids. Being a mentor is an exercise time, patience, frustration and exuberance while you're crafting a product, business plan and presentation with them. At the end their hard work is presented at the BPC at Stanford School of Education in a huge hurrah! For Peninsula, if you want a more established system, go to the Sequoia High. But if you want to work with underdogs and be more unscripted then go to Woodside or Carlmont High. The other mentors are very talented and dedicated to the cause. We drive an hour and a half across the bridge from work each Thursday in order to be here. We spend more time on the road we do with our mentees but it's definitely worth it. If we could do this next year we will definitely do the E2-E4 class at their main office which is closer to the 101 Freeway.

I would like to thank my parents and the countless religious-related movies dubbed in Vietnamese…read morethat I used to watch endlessly because that was what shaped my heart to be the way it is now. I came from a rough background, a harsh childhood but that never prevented my parents to teach and discipline me. and to show me that a little compassion goes a long way. Due to restriction at work, I wasn't able to promote this drive but thank to Beth L., Craig M., Cristal C., Noelle J., and one of my coworkers for making this drive successful. I collected quite a few backpacks and felt good that we helped a few families. The evening I decided it was time to drop the backpacks filled w/ school supplies off, I was amazed to see the generous hearts that was there before me; I saw huge piles and piles of backpacks... I'm not there to help everyone because realistically I can't but if I can make someone smile and not have to worry about the expenses of getting a backpack and school supplies then it's definitely worth it. Donations and volunteerism isn't just during the holidays. Do what you can. Help others.

What a fantastic organization. Please consider signing up for their mailing list if you'd like to…read morevolunteer as spots fill up quickly, another plus is that children are welcome to join to help out too, which many organizations require them to be 16 y.o. and up.

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is truly one of the most impactful and well‑run organizations in…read moreour community. Every interaction I've had with them whether donating, volunteering, or simply learning more about their programs has left me inspired and grateful that such a dedicated team is working to fight hunger right here at home. What stands out most is their professionalism and compassion. The staff and volunteers treat every client with dignity, and you can feel how deeply they care about making sure families have access to healthy, nutritious food. Their operations are incredibly organized, and the scale at which they serve the community is nothing short of impressive. I also appreciate how transparent they are about where donations go and how efficiently they use their resources. It's rare to see an organization combine heart, innovation, and operational excellence so seamlessly. If you're considering supporting a local nonprofit, volunteering your time, or looking for a meaningful way to give back, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is an outstanding choice. They are making a real difference every single day.

I have incurable cancer. I have been through chemo and have lingering serious side effects so…read moregetting to a food pantry is hard not to mention. I don't have a car. I found Second Harvest Food Bank delivers food to the door. So I applied and they have been delivering to my door when they don't send lazy delivery drivers that leave my food outside my apartment building for everyone to get, or in the lobby or in the mail room to leave my food to rot. Even if I could go to the lobby or mail room, I can't lift my box and bring it up five floors. Not to mention, I don't get notification that the food box has even been delivered so I don't know if it's been delivered to the lobby, mail room, or left outside. I have called several times explaining I am not getting my food boxes, even though they send out another food box 5 days later, I shouldn't have to wait five extra days for food. Not to mention 7 out of 10 times I get my box it's loaded with rotten fruit and vegetables full of mold. To which by the way I am highly allergic to food mold. I have called. I have spoke to supervisors. I have spoken to several different people at Second Harvest Food Bank. They apologize. Which I appreciate, but that doesn't help me with my food. They said if you don't want to receive moldy fruit and vegetables come and pick up the box yourself. Nice I would if I could. I'm sure others with my health issues and my age would attest to the fact that we would do a lot of things if we were physically capable of doing it. So apologies fall on deaf ears because I still don't receive my food boxes when I should and like I said half the time the food is rotten full of mold. Shaking my head because I see the commercials and I see people donating to which I appreciate. I see people in their cars in line getting all this beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables not to mention holiday boxes to which I don't receive a holiday box I don't get anything to celebrate Easter, Thanksgiving no turkey, no Christmas box just beans and rice is what people who get their food delivered get along with moldy fruit and vegetables. I guess that is Second Harvest Food Bank's way of saying happy holidays. You don't get a holiday box you don't need to celebrate a holiday.

When I moved back to Palo Alto with a 2 year old joining PAMP was the first thing I did and I do…read morenot regret it! What a tremendous resource for everything from posting questions to the online forum to attending kid's activities and mom's night out at discounted prices to fun large family events. The community is amazing and continues to grow. Priceless!

PAMP is a phenomenal resource for parents on the Peninsula! I've found life-long friends as well as…read moremy hair stylist, dry cleaner, kids nanny and preschool. The member discounts alone are reason enough to join!

Thank you JW House for everything you have to offer to families of loved ones staying at the nearby…read morehospital. It can always be stressful and heartbreaking as a family member with a loved one staying at the hospital; esp if you are not from the area and driving back and forth isn't as easy as it seems. JW House offers rooms to stay, hot meals, a place to shower and overall, just a place for families to feel AT HOME and comfortable. A home away from home. I truly appreciate the time I got to spend here. I didn't stay a night but I did stay for a couple hours with my 6 month old to feed and to nap. It was for sure needed before the drive back home. I also stayed for dinner which was delightful. They also offer snacks, and if you have family members at bedside, you are more than welcome to pack them food to-go. They also have a huge backyard with a play area and a BBQ grill. I highly suggest going on their website to learn more about this amazing home away from home. It was built from love and you can see it radiate from the way this place is taken care of and from the volunteers. Thank you, JW House!

I want to be clear that I completely understand JW House has limited availability, uses a…read morereferral/waitlist process, and cannot guarantee a room. My disappointment is not that I wasn't guaranteed housing -- it's how little communication I received during the process. I started the process about a month before my scheduled surgery, worked with a social worker, completed everything that was asked of me, and followed up because I knew I needed to have lodging arranged ahead of time. Despite doing that, I did not receive any meaningful update about where I stood or what I should realistically expect. Then, only a couple of days before my surgery, I received a call asking additional questions and whether I was still interested. I said yes, but I was still told they could only let me know if a room became available. At that point, my surgery was days away. I was traveling for a medical procedure and simply could not responsibly wait until the last minute without knowing whether I would have somewhere to stay. Again, I understand that availability is limited and that JW House may not always be able to accommodate everyone. I would never fault an organization for not having a room. What was difficult was going through the process so far in advance, trying to follow up, and still being left without any clear communication until the final days before surgery. For someone already dealing with the physical and emotional stress of a serious medical procedure, that uncertainty added a tremendous amount of stress. If I had simply been told earlier, "We cannot guarantee anything and you should secure backup lodging now," I would have understood completely. Instead, I felt like I was left waiting until it was no longer realistic to do so. I ultimately had to make other arrangements. I genuinely think the mission of JW House is wonderful, and I hope the communication process can improve for future patients and families, because people seeking this kind of help are often already under an enormous amount of stress.