When Manhattan Beach's Roundhouse Aquarium set a fundraising goal of $50,000 for its annual year-end campaign, its organizers had no idea that community support would bring in more than double that amount. 

Between September and December, the Roundhouse Aquarium Teaching Center (operated by Oceanographic Teaching Stations Inc.) raised a whopping total of $103,560 to support its operations and educational programs.

"I'm absolutely blown away," said Grace Adams, executive director of the aquarium and teaching center. "It’s hard to put into words how thankful I am right now. Every time I see our community step up the way it did, it reminds me why I love this work so much."

The funding supports the aquarium's operations as well as its educational services to students in underserved communities, particularly those in Title 1 or low-income schools.

"When we started this campaign with a $50,000 goal, we were hopeful—but you blew past that in no time," Adams wrote in a letter to supporters. "Then, when we raised the goal to $70,000…you didn’t stop. And when we pushed it to $95,000, you still showed up! Because of you, the Roundhouse Aquarium is ready to dive into 2025 with everything we’ve got. That means more hands-on learning experiences, more field trips for low-income schools, and more opportunities to inspire the next generation of ocean stewards."

(Eric Martin, the Roundhouse's aquarist director, teaches a class on the beach. Photo via Roundhouse Aquarium.)