Updating my review from 4 stars to 5, because this place is really, truly, wonderful…read more We always meet such kind people here. The kind of people that say "hello" in passing, or even stop and talk for a while. And, oh, the flowers! So many beautiful flowers. The roses are in full bloom again, which is delightful! I love that our sweet pup loves to come here to sniff and walk around. She's an older girl now, and as old age issues are coming upon her-each day with her is a gift. So, to see her joy when pitter pattering the grounds just touches my heart and forces me to be completely present in the moment.

We went with our son and his 3 year old daughter and wife for a wonderful few hours. It was a great…read moreway to be outside during the heatwave and still have some cool, shady places for our granddaughter to enjoy. There were events, so parking was a challenge, but we pretty much had the grounds to ourselves. We read about Pixie Playground in advance and it seemed that it was available for children to play on. But, no. It was locked. I went online to find out how we could join. First, the cost is prohibitively expensive for most people. Second, no matter if you are willing and able to pay--no applications are being accepted. It's difficult to explain to a toddler why a playground is not open and only certain, select, wealthy people are allowed to go there. Fortunately, we took her to the little "hobbit cafe" and she was happy taking turns serving us pretend meals. Then she was delighted to run on the grass. We ended the day with a little walk and then fountain.

Nino was amazing to me and my mom a friendly attitude, great customer service overall 10/10 will be…read moreback!

The perfect place to either: 1 - donate nice women's clothing (as like-new as possible) to be…read morescored buy women who need something nicer than they are in a position to buy and might need for a job interview, etc., Or: 2 - if you need some clothing to look the way you'd like to be seen for that special opportunity, be sure to stop by and check out Bloom. It won't be a waste of your time. Drop off what is nice but not needed so that someone who really needs it can have it! Note the specific open hours and donations accepted times on their website. Tip re. Dropping off items: Donations are received at the rear of the building, down the immediately adjacent driveway. Back down it if you can. It's difficult to turn a car around at the bottom!

This store has very well priced items for making arts and crafts. Everything is in good condition…read more Helpful staff, too! I found things that I didn't know I'd want!

We went to the SPARE store looking for a patch in hopes of repairing a tear/hole on the back of a…read moredown jacket. Luckily, we found a patch for it. Mena, the owner, took time to check out the jacket and described in detail how the repair could be done. It sounded pretty complicated. Mena reassured us that it could be done. After further discussion, Mena said it would probably be easier if she did it herself instead of explaining how to do it. Without us asking, she volunteered to do the repair for us! It came out perfectly!! Mena was amazing!! What a gem!! There are fabric, sewing, art and school supplies, etc., at the store. She also accepts donations as well. If you're looking for art, crafts, and sewing supplies, go check out the store! You'll be surprised of what you might find!!!

This stables is a special place. I have grown up riding, working and boarding at many boarding…read morestables since I was 7 years old across the country. Marin Stables is lovely! The management, people and community are wonderful and caring. I have experienced polite, caring, people from everyone at this stables. The trails are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen with many different types of trails and views. The horses are very well cared for at this facility and that is the #1 in my book. I find the rules are basic safety, common sense and curtesy and this is a public facility that hikers come through the trail head and there are bikes on the fire road and multi-purpose trails and most of the horses are trained to deal with the bikes and most hikers, runners, bikers are considerate and follow the "Slow-and-Hello" suggested public safety approach. Come and see for yourself how quiet and pleasant it is to be in this magical place, while walking by on the trail to the trail head of the Canyon Trail.

Hoo boy. I haven't been here in a year now and slowly have begun to unpack the extent of how messed…read moreup my experience boarding here for almost 2 years was. I knew many things I experienced were wrong but didn't grok the magnitude because this was the first barn I've ever boarded at with the first horse I've ever owned myself as an adult. Additionally I am both a survivor of severe childhood emotional abuse and a person with Asperger's Syndrome. I present as very shy and malleable and have a tendency to apologize for things that are not my fault in order to keep peace and not rock the boat. I was 35 when I boarded here and the next youngest people were in their early 50s, with everyone else being older. So I was conspicuously different and an easy target. One particular person who now runs this barn noted these traits in me and took advantage of them by essentially bullying me. I fully acknowledge that my horse was young, difficult, and above my skill level. I tried my hardest to reach out for help from people with more experience. When I first arrived this person acted as if she were trying to help me but really just wanted to dominate, manipulate, and gather information on me. Finally I politely told her I did not want her to "help" me anymore. When she took over running the barn she was constantly trying to find things she could harass me about that were "against the rules". Rules that were not documented anywhere and I had no idea about, like using slow feeders as example. Funnily enough a lot of those rules didn't apply to her or to many of the oldtimers she liked. In the pursuit of leveling up my skills to be able to match my horse's level I took group lessons some mornings with the resident trainer. Everything was going okay until one day when my horse had a meltdown over some deer that spooked him on the hill. This trainer fought with my horse for an hour on a lunge line and when he wouldn't submit told me he needed someone super dominating to be able to retrain him, and that if I didn't do that he was dangerous and useless. She also said he reminded her of the horse in the film "Buck". You know, the one they put down because he was too "crazy" and untamable. Speaking of the deer on the hill, the layout of this barn is probably the worst and most dangerous I have ever seen. It sits in a forest canyon and the arena has steep wooded hills on all sides where deer like to graze and pop out of nowhere. It is next to a public hiking trail where people emerge from a blind corner and scare the horses all. The. Time. Most of the people at this barn are OBSESSED with "safety" and put the responsibility of being safe onto individuals, seemingly not realizing or daring to admit to themselves that the environment itself (the aforementioned insane arena + the highly trafficked Mt Tam trails with mountain bikes whizzing by + horses being cooped up in small stall/paddocks) is a primary contributor to accidents and the lack of safety. There are a handful of cool people here who agree with much of what I said above and continue to board here because the location and trail access works for their lifestyle. These are strong enough people to ignore, withstand, and push back on the resident tyrant as they see fit. I am so grateful for those people and their help during my time at Marin Stables. You know who you are! The only really good thing that happened as a result of boarding here was that during the last 9 months of my time at Marin Stables (while I was recovering from a major surgery) I was able to work with another boarder, Heidi Craig, who is an experienced and humane horse trainer. She really understood my difficult horse and was different from almost everyone else there. Instead of a constant onslaught of domination she listened to my horse and knew how to engage with him and get him to work with her without a fight. She was the role model I needed who helped me see another way and I so wholeheartedly recommend her as a trainer or person to take lessons from. This negative review has nothing to do with her! If you're considering boarding here just know the dynamic you are walking into. Somehow this horse facility has more drama than the dressing room of a strip club! If you're looking for a peaceful place in Marin to board your horse and ride the trails I recommend Creekside. I was planning to move my horse there but then my husband and I decided to buy some land and keep my horse at our new home instead. I feel so grateful we were able to do this and the changes in my horse since he's had a larger paddock to move around in, access to 24/7 hay in a slow feeder, and shielded from the presence of people who criticize and condemn him as "crazy", "useless", etc. has been incredible to watch. I'm so glad I didn't listen to the advice of many here to sell my horse. I actually almost did. They made it seem like I had no other option. It's so sad and I am not the first it's happened to at Marin Stables.

Homeward Bound is a fantastic multi-level, win-win for the entire community. Not only does Homeward…read moreBound take care of families in need. They also teach skill building classes in the kitchen. They have a community garden that grows fresh green for the kitchen. They also package and sell sweet and doggy treats. When not teaching cooking and food skills classes, Homeward Bound offers a banquet space that can provide full service meals or just a meeting space. The banquet space has a drop down screen, and built in camera equipment for your high tech needs. Another five stars for Homeward Bound if Marin.

I am writing on behalf of a family who have been homeless for 1 month. They have been sleeping in…read moretheir car with a toddler. The program informed the mother that she must be homeless for 10 days before being added to the waitlist. It has been an entire month and they haven't received an update. Multiple calls have been placed to the facility with very few returned calls. At this time, the family is still in limbo and has no idea what's going on.

Great resource for nonprofit organizations. Super nice people…read more CVNL is the organizer of the #BayAreaHumanRace which has over the last 3 decades supported the local nonprofit community. Last year there were 1500 runners. The people at CVNL are always super busy so it is best to just stop by and see them if you want something.

Although this used to be a wonderful service to non profits today this is strictly a money making…read moreorganization that really is not run by volunteers but is in business to sell fee for service help to non profits. It in itself is poorly organized and if you are just inquiring to get information there is no receptionist and therefor you must guess as to who you want to talk to from a recorded laundry list of names and departments. If you guess wrong you will just have to hope that that person will refer your name to someone there that can help. My suggestion is that they hire someone to organize them before they attempt to help anyone else.

Great Thrift store located in San Anselmo. Always items that are excellent quality. Lot's of…read moretreasures, friendly staff, and beautiful costume jewelry. Donations arrive daily so if you see something you like, better grab it.

There it is: a near-perfect specimen of the Crank Review, written on September 13 of this year. It…read morehas wounded pride,it has leverage of circumstances for gain, it has justifications, it is a hot mess of logical fallacies including Aesop's rationalization of the impossibility of getting the grapes because they were probably sour anyway. An in-depth examination of this post would likely run to several pages, not enough room in a review column. Suffice to say, the people at the thrift shop don't deserve this and rather than hold the writer up for ridicule, it is this review-reviewer's view that the original reviewer might be more pitied than scorned.

I hadn't been to the Salvation Army in San Rafael for quite a while because, honestly, I used to…read morefind the store very messy and chaotic. I started going back a few months ago, and I'm really happy to say that I've noticed a big difference! The store feels much more organized, and the team working there is always so nice, friendly, and welcoming. You can tell they really care about keeping the store as tidy as possible. I see them constantly putting things back, picking items up, and trying to keep everything in order. They really do their best, and I appreciate that. I do wish upper management would do a little more to address customers leaving things all over the place. I see items thrown on the floor or left in completely different areas all the time, and it must be frustrating for the employees to constantly have to clean up after people. It would be nice to see some rules or reminders encouraging customers to be more respectful of the store and the people working there. I also feel for the employees because the store has been incredibly hot during my recent visits. I'm not sure if the air conditioning is broken or just not working well, but it must be difficult to work in that heat all day. Despite that, the staff continues to be friendly and helpful, which says a lot about them. Overall, I really appreciate the changes I've seen over the past few months. Izzy and her team deserve a lot of credit for the effort they put in every day. I enjoy stopping in to look around, and I hope upper management continues to support this team and give them the resources they need to keep making the store a pleasant place to shop.

I've always enjoyed going on treasure hunts to thrift stores, but since I've been cleaning out…read moreclosets and taking bags of clothing to drop off, I haven't shopped for months. Yesterday, I was passing the Salvation Army in San Rafael and I decided to go in just to look at records. It was the most revolting time I've ever had anywhere. Even the "dump" store in Petaluma is far cleaner. This was a Wednesday afternoon, not a weekend after a hurricane from a mobscene of shoppers. I'm not sure I EVER want to go into that store again and risk buying something that has spent an unknown amount of time on the floor. Also, I won't be bringing donations to them either because they already have more going on than they can handle.

Just participated in the Windchime/Suncatcher/Mobile workshop. I had so much fun and love what I…read moremade. They have an abundance of beautiful and whimsical supplies and all the tools you could ever need! The room is well organized and clean. I will be going back for more as often as I can. I would love to go once a week if I could!

A fun little creative reuse shop selling various art supplies, old magazines, sewing supplies, old…read morecostumes jewelry, old photos etc. Probably not worse the drive from San Francisco like we did but if you're in that area and like creative reuse, definitely worth a look.

This is a great cause. I have volunteered here more than 20 times with my 13 year old. It is great…read moreto find places that allow kids that young. As much as the cause is great, I have observed on a regular basis team members being short and harsh with my kid if god forbids he drops a grain of rice. But not only that. These people should learn that there is a way of saying things and should practice gratitude a little more....

This is an awesome program that benefits so many deprived children in times of need in the USA and…read morearound the world. Pretty shameful for one review to complain that his teenage son had to pay $20.00 to volunteer. The money is used to pay for the food and transporation around the world. Would have been more appropriate to pay for his son to reinforce what a good deed it is. Cudos to the teenager who wanted to help in anyway.