Mission & History
Mission Statement
Pretend City is a community which builds better brains through fun, whole body learning experiences and empowers children and their grown-ups to meaningfully connect with and expand their world.
Key Events in Pretend City´s History
| August 2011 | Pretend City turns 2 years old! |
| July 2011 | Pretend City Annual Poker Tournament raises over $50k towards classes, programs, operations and scholarships. |
| June 2011 | The Library and Dental Office Exhibits open! |
| January 2011 | Pretend City and PBS SoCal partner to bring popular PBS characters and educational programming to the museum during monthly PBS SoCal days. |
| December 2010 | With the help of many friends and supporters, Pretend City meets its Community Challenge, raising $1 million! A total of $12.7 million has been raised toward the $17.5 million goal. |
| December 2010 | Pretend City autism program receives $22k from OC Register and The Festival of Children’s Season of Caring, Possible Dream Grant. |
| October 2010 | Pretend City hosts its first traveling exhibit: Curious George: Let’s Get Curious! The exhibit was a huge hit during the four months it was here. |
| August 2010 | Pretend City turns 1 year old! |
| July 2010 | Pretend City launches its Scholarships Program. In our Welcome Groups program (fieldtrips and other groups) 1188 children are being given free visits for the months of September, October and November. The Welcome Families program is giving scholarships to 8100 underserved families throughout Orange County. They will use their tickets throughout the next year. |
| May 2010 | Our 1st Annual “When I Grow Up” day was a huge success! Several different professionals took part in programming to teach children about different careers. We had a news reporter, firefighter, veterinarian, ballet dancer, police officer, dentist, baker, lifeguard and more! |
| April 2010 | Pretend City held its first Family Autism Event which was a huge hit. Over 270 people attended to play in a friendly environment and interact with local support agencies. Autism events are held every quarter. |
| March 2010 | Good To Go From Head To Toe held its first annual Family Fun & Wellness Fair at Pretend City Children’s Museum offering free vision, dental, hearing and BMI screenings. More than 1,000 families participated in the museum’s first health fair with more than 200 free screenings provided to children. |
| February 2010 | Pretend City participated in the Soles 4 Souls shoe drive, collecting approximately 1000 pair of shoes, which were flown to needy children and families in Haiti. |
| November 2009 | Pretend City Children’s Museum promotes the Season of Giving, by teaching children how to give back to the community. In partnership with Families Forward, a local non-profit organization, Pretend City was able to donate more than 5 barrels of non-perishable food donations. The donations fed more than 20 families throughout Orange County! |
| October 2009 | Pretend City Children’s Museum hosted their first member events, celebrated the first fall festival and had a very successful Ebay auction. The museum auctioned a pair of Kobe Bryant’s game shoes and a signed T3 Electric Vehicle, raising more than $10,000. |
| September 2009 | In the first two months of opening Pretend City surpassed the number of expected museum members for 2009 as well as the number of guests. In the first two months there were nearly 40,000 guests. |
| August 30, 2009 | The opening of Pretend City, a 28,000 sq. ft. children´s museum serves as a community resource, offering classes for children and parents, outreach programs, teacher trainings, and fieldtrip opportunities. |
| February 2009 | Pretend City staff moves into the museum building in Irvine, located near Wild Rivers and the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. |
| 2009 | The Board of Directors has grown to more than twenty 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation philanthropists from unique industries, diverse backgrounds, and the motivation to support the first major Children´s Museum in Orange County. |
| October 2008 | The Orange County Children and Families Commission awards $3.5 million to the museum to create and facilitate the implementation of a 10-year countywide initiative to promote developmental screenings (to ensure that children are developing appropriately, physically and mentally, for their ages). |
| 2007 | Board of Directors is well established with fifteen 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation philanthropists. The average age of the board is 39 years old. Secured building at 29 Hubble in Irvine, CA which will become home of Pretend City Children´s Museum. |
| 2005 | Next generation philanthropists Bill H. Lyon and Steve Muzzy donate more than $1.5 million and join the Board of Directors. |
| October 2003 | Pretend City on Wheels was launched. Pretend City on Wheels is a mobile fieldtrip experience that goes directly to schools. The program has served over 22,300 students since 2003. |
| June 2003 | Pamela Shambra joined the organization as President with over 13 years of experience building the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, California. |
| 2002 | Anne Marie Moiso of the Rancho Mission Viejo Company becomes the museum´s Chair of the Capital Campaign. |
| 2001 | Ralphs Grocery Company becomes another corporate donor to support Pretend City Children´s Museum. |
| 2000 | Mars, Inc. becomes the first corporate donor to support Pretend City Children´s Museum. |
| June 1997 | Alexandra Airth is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the museum. |
| 1997 | The Children´s Museum of Orange County was founded by philanthropists Alexandra Airth and Sandra Peffer. The museum also receives the initial seed money to build Pretend City, the first major children´s museum in Orange County. |
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