It’s a busy day in downtown Palo Alto, and the United Nations Association Gift Shop is a blue pop of color against neighboring beige walls. An American, Ukrainian and United Nations flag each jut out into the sidewalk, waving in the wind, and opaque blinds offer a peek into the fully stocked store. Even from a glimpse, it’s evident that the store’s individuality bleeds far into its interior.

Inside, the shop is an eclectic multicultural hub, stocked with colorful and one-of-a-kind items ranging in size, color and cost. From trinkets to plushies to jewelry to bicycles, the store is filled wall to wall with a little bit of everything. United Nations Association Gift Shop manager (the word she says best defines her role) Caroline Pease sources hundreds of global fair trade items through Faire, an online wholesale platform, to sell at her petite Palo Alto shop.

Despite the complex inventory, the shop’s goal is simple: to raise money for the United Nations Children Fund and the United Nations Association’s MidPeninsula Chapter. The grassroots movement UNICEF was founded just after World War II and originally functioned to support the children of Europe. Today, UNICEF provides aid to developing countries; whether it be mothers needing access to contraceptives or children needing nutritional aid, UNICEF is an integral and important service available internationally, Pease said.

“I’ve been in countries where I’ve seen vans driving around with UNICEF on them,” Pease said. “I’ve been to a school that was run by UNICEF. They do a lot of good.”

Thanks to a handful of stores like downtown Palo Alto’s, UNICEF and the United Nations Association are able to receive extra funding to support their global ventures. Pease said Burlingame, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Carmel, San Diego and Tucson have all been home to their own United Nations Association gift shops created for the same purpose.

Since 1974 — when downtown Palo Alto’s shop first opened its doors to customers — the store has functioned as exactly that, displaying ethically sourced items from dozens of countries across six continents and making tens of thousands of dollars in revenue each year, Pease said.

“Last year, we sent $50,000 to the UNA and UNICEF,” Pease said. “That’s very significant from our little shop.”

To reach the levels of success that the store does, Pease works alongside a motley group of volunteers. It’s predominantly female, composed of people whose ethnicities originate from across the globe. Even Pease, who has spent routine 30-hour weeks managing the store for about one decade, is a volunteer, forgoing a salary in favor of raising money for a good cause, she said.

Pease moved from the United Kingdom decades ago and has been volunteering regularly at the store since the early 1980s. Though her role has shifted over time — from spending a day volunteering as a favor to taking three-hour shifts to managing the entire store — Pease said her dedication to volunteering for UNICEF has never faltered.

“I’m a bit of a perfectionist probably,” Pease said. “There is a lot more to the shop than just sitting behind the cash register.”

As a manager, Pease’s workload is hefty. Aside from simply the duration of her efforts, Pease is tasked with spearheading all aspects of business: sourcing, outreach, managing inventory and even seemingly mundane tasks like purchasing toilet paper and paper towels.

Though she leads the operation, Pease still gets plenty of help from her young and savvy volunteers like Menlo–Atherton High School junior Matilda Smart. Justly nicknamed the “Cash Register Whiz,” Smart spends most of her volunteering time behind the counter. However, she finds this ordinary job quite fulfilling due to the intergenerational social interactions she has, Smart said.

“I love volunteering because I get out of the house and meet new people,” Smart said. “And being younger, I get to hear a lot of experiences from Caroline for example, who has traveled and done so much.”

In addition to manning the register, Smart is entrusted with the dizzying task of memorizing each item’s country of origin — which Pease said she, of course, executes flawlessly.

“It’s really interesting to try to memorize where all of this stuff is from,” Smart said. “I try to help people there when they ask, ‘Where is this from?’ Or, ‘Do you have anything from certain countries?’ [Working here] has helped me talk more and respond to people better.”

Smart’s volunteered at the gift shop since July and she spends about three hours a week — usually during weekends — working with Pease and other store volunteers. During her eight months there, Smart said she, like many, has discovered what her favorite item is: the fluffy Peruvian alpaca fur-covered stuffed animals.

These animals, Kenyan salad spoons and Indian, Vietnamese and Thai scarves hardly make up a fraction of the exclusively handmade items sold by the store. This variety serves a distinct function, according to Pease: There is an item for everyone.

“We’ve got these little bronze figures,” Pease said. “They are from Burkina Faso. I got them originally and they weren’t really selling that well. And then this man came and he bought the whole lot. And he said, ‘Oh, are you going to get more?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, well, I guess I have to.’”

In sourcing all of her items, Pease said she’s formed a handful of tight bonds with the store’s multinational vendors; two Guatemalan sellers make bi-annual trips up to come and visit Pease for in-person sales and a Nigerien seller frequents the store, vending stacks of high-quality sterling silver jewelry.

Much of Pease’s inventory comes from African countries, including her lot of handmade hampers and Senegalese, Ghanian and Moroccan woven baskets, she said.

“Senegal makes these wonderful bicycles from recycled pop cans or beer cans,” Pease said. “They are amazing. I mean, they have everything, a front light and a water bottle holder quite often. The wheels even turn.”

Both Smart and Pease recognize one thing: The downtown Palo Alto United Nations Association Gift Shop is pretty one-of-a-kind. The decades-old business is nestled on the same block as the Peninsula Creamery, which opened in 1929; Bell’s Books, which is nearing its 90-year anniversary; and Mac’s Smoke Shop, which has been open for “a long while,” Pease said.

Pease admits that one of the best parts of being an established business is attracting the regulars who have been shopping with her for years. There’s now a little community, according to Pease; a set of men, women and unhoused shoppers frequent the store.

As a shopping community developed, with them came stories — and boy, does Pease have a lot of them. From shoplifting to questionable characters, she said she’s witnessed her fair share of fiery retail experiences. But despite the negativity she’s seen, Pease said the store still attracts myriad positivity.

“We’ve had some crazy people here, totally crazy, but mostly just really nice customers and a lot of tourists, especially in the summer,” Pease said. “It’s a great place to work with wonderful people.”