Two and a half years ago, I joined the volunteer Board of Directors for Crittenton Services for…read moreChildren and Families, and currently serve as their Vice Chair for Strategic Planning. I couldn't be happier to support nonprofit so committed to excellence and advocacy for our most vulnerable, including children who have been abused, neglected, exploited or fleeing conflict or violence in their country of origin. Crittenton has a strong reputation in our community and amongst our partners in law enforcement, child welfare, and mental health, for doing whatever it takes to support and build resilience in some of our most at-risk and vulnerable youth. It is for this reason that we are the go-to provider for youth and families that demonstrate the most need. Nationally, Crittenton has an 130+ year legacy of serving and advocating for children who have been marginalized, abused, exploited and neglected. Here in Southern California, we recently celebrated our 50th anniversary, a milestone unfortunately not experienced by most social service agencies in our field of practice. I'm excited to be a part of an organization that has a highly respected and admired staff of nationally-recognized experts, compassionate service-providers, and relentless advocates. Here's to the next 50 years of service to our children and to our communities!

I was in the mood to check out this used bookstore and was able to get 3 paperbacks and 1 hardcover…read morebook for $9! That price was a steal! It's a small and compact space but all the books are organized by categories and there are some pretty good titles to get. Staff was friendly and I saw them also organizing donations.

Incredible Service! Love the selection of books! Can't wait to come back! I think there's a lot of…read moreavailable educational books in here and even books you wouldn't be able to find elsewhere where.

Love visiting this place. Was great for a Mother's day trip one year too. Had amazing tea,…read morebeautiful scenery, and the Buddhas were exquisite!

A nonprofit organization, locally, the IBPS is best known as the formal name of organization that…read moreruns the Hsi Lai Temple, the centerpiece of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order in Southern California. The organization's headquarters is in Taiwan. Although most of the people who go to Hsi Lai Temple are Taiwanese or Chinese, a number of English-only speakers (this includes 2nd generation Asian-American people who don't speak Chinese, as well as non-Asians) go there, too. If you want to learn more about Buddhism, check out their website at www.ibps.org or the Hsi Lai Temple site at www.hsilai.com. The IBPS website seems to have some broken links (particularly in the English section, but the Hsi Lai Temple website is quite robust). Check out the Yelp Review of the Hsi Lai Temple: http://www.yelp.com/biz/oT7g-I7sHIoa9X5YcNmu5A?hrid=F8sTI1jyb4WFbX8Dc9UcAw

We held our Color Guard Banquet for 100 people and it was the perfect. The room is large and lots…read moreof walk around space even with 100 people we were very comfortable even with our projector and screen set up. There is also a nice large patio area with a beautiful succulent wall for a nice photo backdrop. Large clean bathrooms and Large kitchen space for set up and dishwashing. We all had a wonderful time and hope to book this location for next season. The staff is helpful and walked me through each step of the way, booking was easy and Linda and Arlene were helpful, they also assisted with the caterers. And there was plenty of parking for everyone with room for larger parties.

I just hosted my daughter's quinceañera here and it was the perfect location for our party. I had…read more120 guests. All the tables fit comfortably, we had a large dance floor, with plenty of room for the bar and food. We used the patio for a cocktail reception with a string quartet under the gazebo and later that night set up a churro cart and photo booth. The location is very well maintained, bathrooms are clean, and staff is helpful and responsive.

I only recently learned of the Assistance League which is a national non-profit organization…read morefocused on operating philanthropic programs for local communities! As such, I find them to be a better alternative to Goodwills and Salvation Army because the money from their thrift store goes back directly to the communities they are physically located in. For item donations, drive to the rear of the store. There are workers that will accept the donated items and provide you with a receipt if wanted. DOUBLE check their hours before going. Since they're a volunteer-based organization they are not open everyday and generally run from 10AM-3PM.

Please give your employees a training in customer service ASAP!! I stopped by to drop off some…read moredonations. The website says they accept donations until 3 pm so I arrived around 2:50 pm and a woman told me they stopped taking donations at 2 pm and to return on Tuesday when it was more convenient for them. I told her I only had two bags of clothes and she made an annoyed face and begrudgingly let me drop off the bags while schooling me about how the cutoff is at 2 pm. Um, maybe update your website?! I needed to get those clothes out of my house so I donated the bags, in any other situation I would have taken my clothes, some of which were new with tags, elsewhere. From reading the reviews, I can only conclude that there is a pattern of disrespect and unprofessional behavior. The only other time I've been here they were having a jewelry sale and I witnessed one woman yelling at another volunteer in such a demeaning/condescending manner that I almost left, then she snatched the paper bag with my merchandise from me since she hadn't cooled off from belittling her colleague. Perhaps these ladies should spend their free time taking courses on etiquette and good manners instead of doing the community a disservice with their presence at this establishment. Next time, I'll just drive to Costa Mesa to donate to Laura's House, the staff there are friendly and the clothes are actually cuter and more like what I wear anyway.

I love this school for my kids…read more My two- and four-year-old enrolled kids have been enrolled each for about a year now and have learned a lot and have a schedule thanks to Happy Campers. I would struggle with implementing nap time when they were home with me. Something about being with other kids who all need to take a nap and know the schedule really helped my kids. I follow the school schedule even on weekends. It is a Montessori based school and they accept Options for Learning payments. There are a lot of Asian teachers and students enrolled. They even encourage me to start potty training my daughter. Their knowledge and belief that she is capable and ready makes me more confident to get started. Also, I have spoken to the parents of several kids who graduated onto first grade from the school, and they have each said their kid is at the top of their class and ahead.

My daughter has been to the daycare since she was little less than 3 months old. Now she is a…read morelittle over 2 years old and she loves the daycare!! Our family loves the daycare not only the school is very clean and organized, but also the staff are very caring!! Highly recommended the school

Although appreciative of this organization, I don't understand how a trash can that is clearly…read morelabed as donation is not available to a vetern/military etc. There are pallets of trash cans on the top shelf and I was told they are off limits, excuse me for thinking that I as a veteran can ask for a trash can at a organization that states serves the military and veterans. I'm wondering if you tell your donors that these trash cans are off limits to military and veterans. Help me understand please, thank you.

For Military Veterans- Patriots and Paws is a treasure literally! They serve those that served and…read morenow need assistance attaining household items as well as items for pets. Many items are used yet still valuable to those that don't have. Everything from refrigerators to chairs dishes and pantry items. For your furry friends they have leashes, collars, cat and dog food and more. Although they serve all vets in So Cal, they can only pick up donations in Orange County. If you are able and willing they need volunteers whenever possible. If you are a veteran in need just bring your veteran ID or DD214 and valid ID to receive goods.