The time is now. Be a part of the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery’s (MOD) future.
If each MOD member, family or enthusiast donated $100 to support the Museum’s Sustainability Campaign, we would meet our goal of $150K. Please consider a $100 donation to match other local businesses in helping MOD grow, thrive and hire a new executive director.
Jonathan Beckmann would like you to join his business, Beckmann Bakery, during MOD's $100 Challenge:
"Santa Cruz has many great things to do but it's small and there are only so many times you can go bowling. Having a safe, fun and educational kid-oriented space was something that we craved. Our little mall has seen its ups and downs but one thing it did right was allow this new idea, something that was probably not cheap, and slightly crazy to open a space where my kids could -- to put it bluntly -- go crazy, and to be totally honest, a place that I could go kind of crazy too. What dad reading this right now hasn’t built a serious castle fort with the blue foam blocks…?
The museum at the mall has offered my family a get-us-out-of-this-house option where my kids (especially when they were really young) could play with new toys, make new friends and be excited. It offered my wife and I a chance to communicate with other adults and have actual conversations, but it also gave us a pass to act like kids too.
With tremendous risk the folks who decided to build this museum have rewarded us all."
A little bit about Jonathan Beckmann:
"Couldn’t be luckier, that’s how I typically feel… Almost like a celebrity, without the money, national recognition and/or full service lifestyle; like I said “almost." That is how it feels to be a part of the Santa Cruz community; small town feel with major city-like natural attractions.
I have been married to my Wife Andrea for nearly twelve years and we have two sons, Hudson and Holden ages 8 and 6. Over the past decade life has transitioned. With our interests shifting and different needs becoming apparent, my Wife and I found new places and things to satisfy our lifestyle, and in doing so, met and became family to a whole new community within.
Over the last couple of years I shifted my professional life from over-the-hill to Santa Cruz, taking a business development role at Beckmann’s Old World Bakery. Prior, I had worked for large finance institutions; greed, need and all (2008 was no fluke). Beckmann’s has provided me with flexibility in the form of creating, innovating and developing new business channels; products and sales/marketing strategies.
It’s also a community! Most of our staff has had at least ten years of service, while a large number has over twenty! Nice to work for a company that makes a product people love, a product that is natural, healthy, and delicious. I never thought bread would be the grease in our family’s wheel but coming from banking it was definitely a refreshing change."