This collective group is supportive and friendly. On my first day, everyone made me feel welcome…read more They welcomed me to participate in table topics which was optional. Getting myself out my comfort zone, I decided to opt in. It was nerve wrecking speaking to a new group of people. It was refreshing to speak to a group of diverse personalities. There was no judgement and I felt supported. They even cheered me on after I finished! Did I mention they are also really FUN outside of the organization too! I'd highly recommend checking out the org if you're looking to try something new, get out of your comfort zone or just simply want to meet new people in San Francisco!

I have been a charter member of Toast of the Mission since 2011. We are a fun club that is…read moreflexible to meet members various needs. Preparing for a public speech, job interview, teaching training classes, a special occasion speech, we will support you and format the meeting to best help your goal. Come join us.

Not only is Natasha an extraordinary artist, but her teaching strikes the delicate balance of…read moreguidance and oversight while also inspiring whimsy and allowing the student to fully express their creativity. I felt fully supported in learning a new technique and free to take it where my imagination led me. Just a wonderful experience--highly recommended!

Redemption! When I…read morewas in high school, I wanted to make a rat in a suit in my art class. I remember I had made a really great rat head. And I made a really great suit. But when I went to attach the rat head to the body, both had dried out. I only had a couple of days until the project was due, so instead I made a rabbit in a dress. But I was really upset. I was 16 years old, and I was in a phase in my life when I hated convention. So, I wanted to make a rat in a suit to signify the fact that I felt like everyone around me was just a rat in a suit. Instead, I just became super depressed and thought that I sucked and everything sucks. And why me. And I hate the world. And god, I'm such a loser. And... UGH. To be a teenager. Anyhow, fast forward very very many years (I won't tell you how many :P) ...Now that I am a rat in a suit (kinda...)... I wanted redemption for my perceived failure all of those years ago. I saw the class on Groupon and just had to take it. Natasha is awesome. She's a no nonsense Russian artist with a cheeky sense of humor. Clay is her life. She bleeds clay. It comes out of her body and it's almost seemingly like she waves her hands a little and something beautiful magically comes out of her hands and into the world. She helps you take your ideas and shows you you how you can put it together and gives you ideas on how to make it better. Natasha is incredibly attentive and listens to each student to make sure your project turns out beautiful. If only my high school art teacher was just as attentive maybe my rat head and suit body wouldn't had dried out.... She gave me a B- for my rabbit in a dress because it ended up being a week late. Perhaps that's my next redemption project!

The class was a great introduction to pottery! Victor was patient and went around helping everyone…read morewhen it was time to make our individual pieces. We also came late, but thankfully he still allowed us to join in. He helped set our clay up and caught us up to speed with the others. We could make up to 3 pieces and the glaze was chosen for us beforehand. I hope my pieces come out good! Would come again to practice my pottery skills! Keep in mind, parking around here is a little rough since there are a lot of one hour parking spots. Overall great experience for friends, dates, family and kids.

Kaytea was awesome! Yesterday I took my team to a private pottery wheel throwing class and everyone…read moretold me how much fun they had. Kaytea is very knowledgeable, funny, and helpful. Me and most of the team have personally never done this before and we appreciated her patience, humor, and story telling. I've always been interested in wheel pottery as a personal hobby and I'm leaning towards coming back here on my own time :) plus the studio is super cute!

Cam was an amazing host! We had such a great time and haven't laughed that hard in a really long…read moretime when we did the dj battle at the end. HIGHLY recommend to anyone looking to have fun with their team.

Fantastic remote team workshop! Everyone loved getting outside their houses and spray painting…read more The few of us in office have these displayed at our desk. Everyone's was original and looked great. The host was engaging and knew a lot about the topic. Kept things flowing. They made the logistics easy for me, as the coordinator. And it was in our budget, great value.

Ruth Brinker started Project Open Hand in 1985 to provide meals to neighbors suffering from AIDS…read more Seven neighbors receiving food made with love became her mission where people with AIDS, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses as well as the elderly now receive meals and groceries. Seeing my son's ample free time one summer and the need for volunteers, I signed up my son for 10-15 hours a week. After school started, he continued volunteering 3 hours a week, filling in shifts as needed during breaks including holidays. It's not glamorous work, weighing and vacuum sealing beans, rice, chicken and other groceries, but it's important work: I emphasize that people rely on him to receive nutritious food they might not otherwise have. Giving back, caring about people, making time for others less fortunate, being selfless- these are qualities I've instilled in my son. He now enjoys the work, it feeds his soul. I'm proud he volunteers weekly for Project Open Hand for almost two years.

Here is a gem of a org that doesn't boast enough of its amazing work! they strive to provide some…read moreof the healthiest meals in the community. Big difference from the other non-profit food providers. The times that I have volunteered there, you get a sense that the employees really are passionate about their work.

This is the Burning Man HQ office, and I've been here a couple of times for volunteer…read moretraining/events. What a lovely place! Four stars because it's not, say, Facebook, with gigantic snack walls, a sweets shop, and free amenities, but it does have a beautiful charm to it. There's a lot of Burner art, both hung on the walls and placed as sculptures. It's generally a modern office with nice chairs, tall windows, and some tall ceiling areas that give it an airy feeling. The kitchen area is larger than your average corporate kitchenette, with a toaster, toaster oven, blender, and microwave (with googly eyes on it!). Also plenty of table space/prep space. The location, being in the Mission/Potrero Hill area, has moderately awful parking. Best bet is public transit. There's some nice food nearby, including Tartine Manufactury and some more casual/cheaper eateries, cafes, etc. Bathrooms: Clean and functional. Lovely Burner art.

Best year yet. They finally got it right.... although Paris Hilton wasn't there this year and I'm…read morestill looking for daft punk. Weird this is the only year I didn't find them. They should have better vaginal dryness stations. The playa really can do terrible things to your pH. The light shoe was great.

Love the FCPC! Great way to meet people in the community. We've met some of our best friends…read more(both for the kids and grownups ;) through the club.

Home Repair in the Bayview area of San Francisco. No construction experience necessary, repair is…read morean all day shift, and you can't choose what kind of work you are doing. We had a fun and exhausting day and had a great crew leader and coordinator that worked with the vibe of our group to make it the most optimal. Our group's task was primering the outside of a home and helping clean the inside. Painting the outside was definitely the craziest part, leaning huge 2 story ladders with the bottom being on an angled sidewalk and made true by jamming scrapwood underneath one leg and the top part leaning on a house that was falling apart. Our crew leader did it with such comfort and confidence it made us feel more confidant about the safety. It was cool to see how a primer layer improved the look of the home and made it feel refreshed. I also enjoyed helping clean the inside, not sharing pictures of those for privacy but it was one of the most interesting houses with amazing history I've ever been inside of. Thanks for the fun experience, it made the end of day beers that much better!

I've been on 3 different projects, 2 in Menlo Park (read East Palo Alto) and 1 in Daly City, the…read morecondo development. It's been a lot of fun. I like that they do the safety talk at the start of each day. Also they have safety equipment such as helmets, ear plugs, knee pads. The knee pads are "well used" but are good enough to do the trick. Really nice folks at every site. I'm one to ask a lot of questions, and everyone has been really patient in answering. It's a good volunteer environment. The work itself can be hard work! But it's satisfying, and I was able to take the breaks I needed. It's also fascinating to learn about home construction. I've put down a subfloor, removed old laminate and hardwood flooring, and put down pergo. Plus done some random demolition. I've also seen inside of lots of walls, and have a better sense of how homes were constructed in the 50's. yikes. BTW I learned something important about Habitat. They don't give away houses--they sell them to families at a % of family income over time (30 years?). Then if the family wants to sell, they sell BACK to Habitat, and then they can use their built-up equity to buy something else. The neat thing is that the Habitat system is focused on affordability and smooths out bubbles by basing on salary. (US gov't, are you listening?) Also families that buy from Habitat have to do 500 hours of volunteer work. It's good stuff.