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McBeth Foundation

The McBeth Foundation was founded by Barbara McBeth Woodruff in 1990 and she managed the Foundation until her death in 2007.  Barbara grew up in Whittier and Laguna Beach, California and was a real estate developer and artist.  She was an exhibitor in the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts for three years.  Barbara’s charitable interests included children and health services.

The mission of the McBeth Foundation states “It is our goal to create an opportunity, through funding, for individuals and groups to launch meaningful programs.”

We were introduced to Pretend City in 2023 when my wife’s granddaughter began working for the Museum.  Upon visiting the Museum, we found a wonderful environment where children could learn and experience daily life at their own level.  Watching the intense involvement of children in the various activity centers was very interesting.  We saw how the children become completely involved and fascinated by each activity. The required involvement of their parents or accompanying adults is a great addition to the learning experiences for both the children and the adults.

We made a subsequent visit with Chinese friends and their children.  One of the boys wants to be a fireman and the other a policeman.  Each of them was excited to visit the fire department and police station, respectively, and dress in uniforms.  We were even more amazed when the two boys went into the Asian restaurant at Pretend City, dressed in customary uniforms and actually served the “food” they had “cooked” to complete strangers.  They were excited to get dressed, cook, and serve the food just as though they were working in the restaurant.

Last week we visited with my great grandchildren and my grandson was also fascinated with the police department and wore the police uniform for almost an hour.  He also enjoyed working at changing the tires and servicing the car in the Irvine Subaru exhibit.

The variety of experiences for children at Pretend City are amazing and it’s wonderful to see their introduction to various activities in the “real world”.

In reviewing the Museum’s programs with the personnel, we were introduced to the Neurodivergent Family Nights and the need for additional support for this activity.  We found that this program, added to Pretend City’s core activities, was a fit for our founder’s interest in children and health sciences and the Museum was invited to submit a request for a grant.  Our current funding includes other organizations serving children with developmental problems and Pretend City compliments our goals in this area.

We look forward to a continuing relationship with Pretend City and the opportunity to help children discover an interest in the daily activities of life.