Manhattan Beach Merchants Lend Support on Single Mom Project Day
Sep 07, 2026 10:03PM ● By MB News Staff
(Single Mom Project co-founder Janet Jones, center, in teal, with mothers from the Richstone Family Center.)
Restaurants and stores in Manhattan Beach will celebrate Single Mom Project Day on Tuesday, September 8, in support of the locally established foundation.
The Single Mom Project, founded by Manhattan Beach resident Janet Jones and her sons, works in collaboration with the Richstone Family Center to provide $1,000 grants to low-income, hardworking mothers to help them get on steadier financial footing. The Richstone Family Center, located in Hawthorne, provides crucial services such as counseling and after school programs to families impacted by domestic abuse.
On Tuesday, local restaurants and stores will donate a portion of their proceeds to support the nonprofit.
Participating businesses include:
Single Mom Project Began in 2020
- Bella Beach
- Brewco
- Culture Brewing
- Esperanza
- Fete by Slay
- Go Gently Nation
- Gum Tree
- Hennessey’s
- Lido di Manhattan
- Love & Salt
- Mangiamo
- Musette
- OB’s Pub and Grill
- pages: a bookstore
- Panchos
- Right Tribe
- Riley Arts
- Rock’n Fish
- Slay Italian Kitchen
- Shellback Tavern
- Sloopy’s
- The Strand House
- Tabula Rasa
- Uncle Bill’s Pancakes House
- Uncorked Wine
- Waterleaf
- Zinc@Shade
Single Mom Project Began in 2020
Jones, who raised two boys as a single mother in Manhattan Beach, created the Single Mom Project in 2020 with her (now grown) sons Evan and Carter. Prior to founding the Single Mom Project, the Jones family had coordinated a variety of events for Richstone, from a Back-to-School Barbecue to Free Haircut Days to Free Family Portrait Days, so the center was a natural partner for their efforts.
Donations Keep Families Intact
The Single Mom Project's grant-giving efforts began in December 2020, when Jones and her sons gave away a total of $5,500 to 11 single moms. Inspired by the success of that first event, the organization continued with a series of events, serving a growing number of grantees each time. At its fifth annual event last year, the group distributed grants of $1,000 each to its highest-ever total of 60 single mothers.
Donations Keep Families Intact
Jones
had gone through her own struggles as a single mother, and was grateful
to receive support from her Tree Section neighbors and community
members when her boys were young. A pivotal moment in her life came a few
years ago when a good friend sent her a Mother’s Day card and tucked a
$5,000 check inside.
"He was dying of cancer and wrote that he wanted my
sons and me to thrive," said Jones. "He
died shortly thereafter, but we’re now paying Matt’s gesture forward."
The mothers from the Richstone Center have expressed to Jones how meaningful the grants are in their lives.
For example, Jones learned that one of the previous
grant recipients had received permission to use a $500 grant to buy her
child a single bed. The client said that Child Protective Services had said
they would take her child away if she could not provide a bed.
"The
Single Family Project helped keep that family intact," said Jones. "Even
though $500 may not seem like a lot to some of us in the Beach Cities,
that amount can literally keep a family together."
