Absolutely beautiful new location!! Very welcoming for humans and cats, I am proud to be a…read morevolunteer at Nine lives and advocate for feline welfare. Nine Lives is a huge part of our community and so grateful, we are so lucky to have this business in our city. Thank you Nine Lives! Highly recommend for Vaccines, Spay & Neutering, and Adoption center.

I brought in a tom stray cat. He is super sweet. We finally caught him. I had an appointment to get…read morethe neutering done and all his shots up to date. They put some ointment on his face to heal looks like he got into a fight with some other animal. His face looks like it is healing nicely. The staff were very friendly. Found out he was around 10 years old. Very accommodating.

Fun place to shop--great prices, great merchandise, great group of volunteers. All proceeds go…read morebenefit Peninsula Family Services.

Clean and bright and free of junk. Prices are great. I've found lots of nice things here over the…read moreyears.

The Most American Small Business Book Store I've ever been to…read more Owner/Operators and employees are educated, knowledgeable, honest and sincere.

Reach and Teach is truly a local gem and one of the most inspiring shops on the Peninsula. They…read moreoffer a carefully curated mix of progressive books, educational toys and games, eco‑friendly products, and other high‑quality gifts you won't find in big box stores. Every visit feels like a treasure hunt--you'll discover something meaningful, fun, and thoughtful. The two owners are not only super friendly but also deeply civic‑minded, always ready to share knowledge and support community causes. Their passion for education, sustainability, and social justice shines through in everything they do. If you're looking for a place that combines heart, purpose, and great finds, Reach and Teach is a must‑visit.

I have been on several volunteering trips together with 20-25 other volunteers from the Bay Area to…read morehelp with tech-related and light construction projects in Santa Barbara, Honduras where footsteps run most of the programs to benefit economic orphans (adding some pictures below). All of the trips were great, and I have very good memories. This non-profit is rather small and thrives on volunteering groups helping as they have a lot of needs. The work you do depends on the skills of each volunteer. I am a techie, so I helped to install network equipment, and fix old computers, other people did painting or helped with kid-related activities. I took my then 10-year-old son on my second trip, and he really enjoyed it as this is a family-friendly type of volunteering (on that trip we had 13 adults and 12 kids), it also was eye-opening for him to see how people who are less fortunate live as we had the opportunity to walk some of the kids home, and see they live in little shacks with no electricity, running water or sewer (adding a picture of one of the nicer homes where one of the families lives that invited us to take a look inside). The trip was very well organized, and we felt safe and welcomed by the locals. We stayed in a hotel that had air conditioning and ate very good meals (portions are smaller than in the US but way more healthy as they cook everything from scratch). The work was not really hard, but we felt we were making an impact. There is free time after dinner, and we got to know the other volunteers (we played a lot of board and card games at night, and shared stories). Overall I would describe it as a vacation with a purpose. Would definitely go again in the future if the opportunity comes...

From the owner: Footsteps Missions is a nonprofit organization that connects people around the world with partners…read morein developing countries who can use their help, training, and administration to help create meaningful short-term mission trips that will both meet the "real" needs of those being served and empower the lives of those serving. Here are some of the programs we are currently running: *Discovery Trips *Garden Of Love And Hope Centers *Girl's Residential Home *Job Skills Training Center *Dental/Medical Clinic *Farming Co-Op *English As A Second Language Camps Please check our Website for more information

As a volunteer, I'm extremely happy with HCN. After loosing a cat, I needed a way to fill that void…read morein my life. Checked around at various shelters, where many required certain amount of hours to dedicate. Being that I still work, I couldn't accommodate that. Found Homeless Cat Network based on the work they do. It's a multi-volunteer organization. There is a trail along the SF Bay, where people have dumped their cats, and has become a feral cat community. During my walks along the trail, I saw signs posted explaining the status of those cat. They are fed by volunteers and captured spayed/neutered and released back. I decided to contact HCN and ask if I could volunteer once a month? They said yes, and if I could work in the socialization center? This is where the feral cats who've become too social are at risk and have the potential of being adopted to their fur-ever homes. I've meet so many kind hearts that just love cats and doing the right thing. Made friends out of the shelter. Fallen in love with MANY cats. It's heartwarming to find out someone wants to adopt them. The other part of HCN is the kitten camp. There is another group of volunteers that help raise kittens in their home or at the shelter. Right now they are all at homes. After reading some reviews about HCN, I read some unhappy potential adoption stories. I'm very sorry you had an unpleasant experience. It is true, our organization used to be very strict for some reason? Don't ask me why? I'm not part of the decision making. It has changed tremendously this past year. We used to have 18 cats at the shelter, in the past few months, we are now down to 7 cats! Shelter-in-place opened the door for so many adoptions. What makes our kitties different is, they weren't house cats, they used to live in the wild. They do have a lot of love and some become very spoiled pillow cats. They grow to love the pampered life. Not all the cats on the website are listed, because we are still working on their socialization skills. Please inquire and see what'll happen? All my favorite kitties that I bonded with, tend to get adopted. I miss them, then another new cat comes along and steals my heart. It's great.

Every member is voluntary only and no one is paid for their service. They provide medical as well…read moreas spay/ neuter for homeless cats. They also provide food for volunteers to feed the homeless cats. If cats appear sociable, they continue to socialize the cats and find forever home for them.

Love this place and glad we found it for our two daughters. The elder one spent more than a year,…read moreand the younger one spend almost three years. The teachers are great with kids. Most of the teachers; they are not only professionals, but actually are able to make an emotional connection. And kids can understand this and feel safe there. Also great value-wise - particularly with sibling discount and included lunch option. As parents, it is hard to give 5* to someone taking care of your kids; but if you set your expectations practically - they deserve the rating.

Our 2 kids were at this daycare for three years, and we couldn't have asked for a better…read moreexperience. From the very beginning, the owner, director and teachers created such a warm and welcoming environment that immediately put us at ease as parents. The teachers are truly special; caring, attentive, and genuinely invested in the kids. Every day we dropped our children off, we felt confident they were safe, happy, and well cared for. One of the things we loved most was the well-rounded program. The weekly music and dance classes were something our kids looked forward to. We also really appreciated how the school celebrates different cultural holidays throughout the year. This daycare has played such an important role in our children's early years, and we're so thankful for the love and care they received here. We'll truly miss being part of this community and highly recommend it to any family looking for a nurturing and enriching place for their little ones!!!

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.