The Pacific Beach Community Foundation (PBFC) is making its mission to do good in the community.
Despite the dismantling of the PB Block Party, which the group hosted in years past, the mostly new members of the board now have intentions to raise money through different avenues and give it to community groups who need it, said PBCF President Don Mullen.
The PBCF sent out flyers and an envelope to Pacific Beach residents in March asking for a tax deductible $10 donation to support general causes and community events such as concerts at Kate Sessions Park, school and library needs.
The group has a 501 (c)(3) designation and has received about 90 donations so far, he said.
“We adopted a motto, ‘All We Do is Good,’ to raise money for events in Pacific Beach,” Mullen said. “We’re not about owning events anymore. Now we want to help people with their projects.”
Established in the mid-1990s, the group was known for supporting community activities with funds raised through the PB Block Party, he said. When the party got progressively larger and larger year after year, the city denied the special events permit, and the party was effectively cancelled in 2006.
The PBCF has since reorganized, brought on new members and now wants to continue supporting community causes, Mullen said.
He said he plans to approach several community organizations over the next year to work with them on future community events and activities.
One event the group wants to help support is the Pacific Beach Concerts on the Green.
Georgina Smith, a principal organizer and committee chairperson in charge of the event said she and a core group of volunteers, including members of the Pacific Beach Town Council, make the event possible.
Along with her membership to the PBCF board of directors, Smith also sits on the Pacific Beach Town Council, she said.
She and band coordinator Mark Johnston are the concert’s principal organizers.
“I just want the event to keep happening. The concerts are a wonderful venue for this community,” she said.
Now in its sixth year, the free concerts are partly funded by the city’s Arts and Culture Commission and the San Diego County Community Enhancement Program. The money that comes in pays for generators, stages and other amenities.
Pacific Beach Town Council members also volunteer on the day of the event, Smith said.
This year’s concerts at Kate Sessions park will run from Sunday, July 27, through Tuesday, August 12, and are also supported by Discover Pacific Beach, according to the concert’s website at pbconcerts.org.
Along with Mullen and Smith, many community members who have served on various community boards in the past make up the PBCF’s current board. They include Vice President Jim Moore, Treasurer John Logan, Secretary Katie Keach and directors Otto Emme, Gregg Lutz, Annemarie Rynearson and Eric Swenson.
Though the board will not be holding open public meetings, they will send out an annual report to interested community members who sign up for it, Mullen said.