{"id":82493,"date":"2025-12-05T07:33:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T07:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/82493\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T07:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T07:33:07","slug":"los-al-brings-back-bucks-program-this-time-for-recreation-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/82493\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Al brings back \u201cBucks\u201d program, this time for Recreation Department"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Local residents who purchase goods and services from vetted Los Al businesses will get credits they can use to participate in the city’s recreation program. Courtesy photo<\/p>\n

The City of Los Alamitos has announced a new citywide financial program based on the popular \u201cLos Al Bucks\u201d pandemic program, in which residents were given a portion of the federal stimulus funding, if it be spent inside the city limits.
\u201cI\u2019m excited to announce that we are coming out with a \u2018Recreation Bucks\u2019 program for the City of Los Alamitos,\u201d said Ron Noda, Developmental Services Director.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you will recall, a few years ago we did \u2018Los Al Bucks,\u2019\u201d said Noda, reminding the residents of the program initiated back during the pandemic that turned out to be popular with residents.<\/p>\n

In that program, residents received $50 certificates from the city, which they could use to shop virtually anywhere in the city. Vendors have registered in advance with the city to become qualified to issue the certificates.
Noda said the \u201cLos Al Bucks\u201d program was so popular that the city did two rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, we\u2019re excited to be able to bring this back,\u201d Noda told the Council, telling them that staff had invested a significant amount of time speaking with residents and others putting this program together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our residents and our community to shop local this holiday season,\u201d he said, and \u201cwhen you shop local, you can earn bucks, right?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

What makes this program different, he said, is that residents will earn \u201cRecreation Bucks,\u201d meaning the only value for the certificates earned will be the ability to pay for various participatory recreation programs in the city.
\u201cThey (Recreation Bucks) cannot be redeemed for cash,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo exactly what are recreation bucks?\u201d Noda rhetorically asked. \u201cWhen a person goes out there and spends money at a Los Alamitos-based business, right, all you have to do is get from that approved business right, to keep the receipt, and then, depending on how much you spend, you will earn recreation bucks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Noda presented a table illustrating the amount residents will earn for purchases. He said the Recreation Bucks program began Dec. 1 and will run through May 17, 2026.<\/p>\n

Spending $150 will get you $65 in Recreation Bucks, spending $30 will get you $10 in recreation bucks,\u201d he said. Any community member can go into an approved Los Alamitos business in Los Alamitos,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Residents can keep their receipts and use their Recreation Bucks to register for various programs, activities, and events.
For instance, said Noda, if a resident brings his family to a Los Al restaurant and spends $150, they will receive 65 Recreation Bucks, which can later be used towards registration fees for sports programs, cultural events, summer or winter camps, etc., some of which cost $100 per child, per week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to save you money,\u201d said Noda.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not restricted like the first round or the second round of Los Al bucks,\u201d said Noda, \u201cwhere we\u2019re handing people the $50 cash. This one here, they\u2019re spending their own money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noda said residents who live in Rossmoor, Seal Beach, and other cities can participate, but the money must be spent at an approved Los Al business to receive the Recreation Bucks credit.
He said the city is scheduled to release a list of approved businesses this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local residents who purchase goods and services from vetted Los Al businesses will get credits they can use…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-82493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}