Our mission is to encourage social activities, networking and interaction among the members to create a comfort zone for sharing ideas and promoting a better quality of life in our neighborhoods.
- Out & About Mission Statement
What began with a few friends enjoying the summer concerts at Los Cerritos Park in 1995 has evolved into one of Long Beach's most dynamic neighborhood organizations. Out and About Long Beach (O&ALB) had humble beginnings as a loose knit group of Bixby Knolls, Los Cerritos, and California Heights locals gathering together to enjoy the summer concerts in the park. Our group was originally organized by residents Ken and David. At some point, the gathering moved from the park to someone's home to keep the good times rolling, and the after-concert party tradition was started.
As the group grew, attendance at the summer concerts gradually increased. After several years, leadership transitioned to David Carden and he picked up the reins from Ken and David. Soon, the first of several annual potluck BBQ parties were held to celebrate the summer and solicit suggestions on what direction the group should go. Ken Slater, who had experience in setting up a ski club, offered important insight on how to get organized. A core group of volunteers stepped in to pull together the after-concert parties and then they began to organize additional events. A mailing list was created and a flyer was distributed at the beginning of each summer with the planned activities proposed by the group.
In 2002 it became apparent that O&ALB had become too large to operate without a more formal governance structure and accounting method to pay expenses. Some members suggested the group perhaps should also begin to do charitable projects, to directly benefit people in our neighborhood -- Bixby Knolls, California Heights and Los Cerritos, where most of our supporters live. After many hours of brainstorming with other Out and About supporters, Bruce Alton and David Carden proposed a vision which has become the cornerstone of O&ALB.
Believing that the members relished the social aspects of the organization but wanted to begin charitable activities as well, Bruce, Ken and David developed a plan to create a non-profit and tax-exempt California Public Benefit Corporation which would enable O&ALB to accomplish three goals: (1) Establish a formal organizational and leadership structure consistent with our vision and objectives; (2) Develop charitable projects in our community to promote a better quality of life in our neighborhoods; and (3) Continue the current social activities and include new activities to support networking within our community and throughout Long Beach.
Working with O&ALB volunteers, David and Bruce proposed a seven member Board of Directors and canvassed for individuals willing to serve as the initial Board and Officers of O&ALB. With the agreement of this newly formed Board, Bruce undertook the task of preparing the necessary documents for a non-profit corporation with tax-exempt status for review and approval by the Board. Based on our member's support of charitable projects, in December of 2002 O&ALB obtained State of California corporate non-profit status and charitable non-profit status (501c3) by the IRS in the spring of 2003.
Given this legal structure, O&ALB is now much more than just a summer after-concert party group. It is an organization that offers its members an opportunity to support and be recognized in our local community. Being tax-exempt means that donations made to O&ALB are tax deductible; although all contributors are advised to check with their financial advisor to review tax exempt contributions. O&ALB is committed to keeping overhead expenses for charitable projects at an absolute minimum, therefore Board members and Officers serve as volunteers with no compensation or other financial benefit. All financial records are available to anyone at anytime for review.
With the increasing number of O&ALB members, it is hoped that everyone will not only participate in our social activities, but also support charitable giving. It is through this total effort that our organization can truly make a difference in Long Beach.