Secondhand store supports nonprofit, builds community

In a small boutique shop in San Carlos, community volunteers are found donning blue aprons with “Family Tree” stitched in white, inviting in customers looking for quality items at an affordable price in between bouts of laughter.

Opened just three days a week, The Family Tree is a small “next to new” retail shop entirely operated by volunteers of the Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmont based auxiliary of the nonprofit Peninsula Family Service.

Located at 1589 Laurel St., the shop collects donations and sells most items at extremely affordable prices, with an average price tag around $5, and all proceeds donated to PFS since 1968.

What started as just a garage sale has continuously gained traction from the community with the increasing trend to buy secondhand, said Trudy Somrak, interim president of The Family Tree.

“Everyone wants to recycle, reinvent things and is into vintage, so we’re really kind of at the right time to have something like this still,” Somrak said.

Though the shop’s revenue provides consistent financial support to the larger nonprofit, the hyper-local work is what is really valuable about the auxiliary, PFS CEO Heather Cleary said.

“San Carlos is stronger because the Tree exists,” she said. “It not only serves clients and customers, people wanting to purchase things, but it serves this whole volunteer community. People can reduce social isolation, there’s less loneliness in the community, there’s a sense of belonging.”

After volunteering with the organization for nearly 40 years, Somrak has seen generations pass through as volunteers. As a community-oriented organization, she said working in the shop gives the volunteers — the majority of whom are retirees — a sense of purpose.

“Because you retire, doesn’t mean that you’re not of further use to your community and that you can’t have further growth, whether it be friendship or learning something new,” Somrak said.

The shop recently began allowing payments by card, which has substantially increased revenue, but some volunteers were initially uncomfortable using the machine. Embracing an opportunity for learning, some volunteers organized training classes to get everyone comfortable with the technology.