Accomplishments | Our Mission | Recognition
Site Use | Planned Giving - Adobe Heritage Society
2011-2012 Board of Directors | Donate Today

Give a Hand

TO SUPPORT

Rancho Los Cerritos

The backbone of our mission is to keep our historic site's education programs operational and at capacity. Your gift helps to support:

Adobe Days Revisited - The lifeblood of our education programs is the thousands of children who participate in the fourth-grade Adobe Days Revisited tours at Rancho Los Cerritos, supplementing their studies of California history with a hands-on experience at a landmark site - a place they can see, touch smell and comprehend.

RLC Teen Docent Program - The high school students who participate in our RLC Teen Docent Program bring fabulous energy to the Rancho and our youth programs, and the teens learn valuable public speaking and team building skills.

Summer Adventures - Children entering 1st - 5th grade learn about life in old California  through historic crafts, activities, games and stories.

Community  Events - Our family programs such as Mud Mania are widely popular in the community, providing interactive, educational and - above all - FUN experiences to thousands of guests.           

Please Give a Hand to help meet these needs!

• A gift of $1,000 buys supplies for three months of school programs.
   

• $500 sponsors a teen to serve as a summer history camp assistant for a week.
   

• $250 provides training and materials for a Living History docent.
   

• $100 enables us to provide subsidies for fourth-grade classes from
  "Title I" low-income schools.
   

• Any act of generosity will help Rancho Los Cerritos fulfill our commitment to provide everyone in our community with a positive and memorable experience.

You can donate today!

Rancho Los Cerritos Foundation
4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach, CA 90807

or contact the Rancho at (562) 570-1755 for other options.
 

History of Accomplishments

Preserving Our Cultural Heritage
Shortly after incorporation, the foundation funded a comprehensive Master Plan with its initial partners The John & James Knight Foundation, The Spring Street Foundation and The Bixby Land Company. The idea for such a plan was proposed in a Self-Study report funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The plan provides a detailed guide for innovative ways of interpreting the 19th Century site for our 21st Century visitors. Most importantly, the plan recommends the restoration and reconstruction projects that will play an integral role in preserving the site for future generations.

The Rancho Los Cerritos Master Plan won national acclaim as a "Save America's Treasures" project in 1999; a distinguished "2001 Design Award" from the California Preservation Foundation in recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of historic preservation; and, in 2003 a "Merit Award" presented by Long Beach Heritage.

Following completion of the plan, the City of Long Beach received $1,600,000 in public funds on behalf of the Rancho through the 1996 Los Angeles Park Bond Act, FEMA and Proposition 12. With these grants, safety issues were addressed. Construction was completed in the areas of seismic retrofitting, disabled visitor access, and roof and woodwork restoration. The Long Beach Navy Memorial Heritage Association added to the excitement by funding the restoration of the 1930s orchard designed for the Bixby family by Ralph Cornell, a well-known landscape architect of the time.

Work continues on Master Plan recommendations. The Rudolph & Daphne Munzer Foundation has generously funded architectural designs for entryway improvements and these plans should be available by 2004; and the LeBurta Atherton Foundation has made an initial gift for the proposed Visitor Center. Additionally, design work for the arroyo restoration, perimeter landscaping and California native garden has been funded by a generous grant from the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy.

Interpretive Programming
Museum, school and family relationships are effective partnerships in educating children. Teachers, students, caregivers and parents look to historians for bringing our cultural heritage alive, in an exciting and educational format.

The City of Long Beach provides for staff salaries and basic operational costs, yet it is only with support from our philanthropic partners that we are able to fund the many special initiatives that make local history fun and stimulating.

The J. Paul Getty Trust has provided a summer intern through the foundation since 1999. The intern assists in researching collections and planning family events. The Earl & Lorraine Miller Foundation funded the production of a popular video now used in our Speakers Bureau program. This video served as an important classroom outreach tool while the Rancho was closed for construction projects in 2001-2002. Public Corporation for the Arts has also generously underwritten family and children's programs.

Planned Giving
Adobe Heritage Society