What are you doing for dinner on Tuesday?

How about lunch?

If you’re looking for an excuse to eat out — or do a little shopping — head to Manhattan Beach, where 27 local businesses will participate in the city’s first “Single Mom Project Day.”

The one-day fundraiser will benefit the Single Mom Project, a nonprofit founded by Manhattan Beach resident Janet Jones that provides grants to local single mothers in need.

Throughout the day, participating restaurants and retailers will donate either a portion of their sales or a designated amount to the Single Mom Project. Customers are encouraged to mention the Single Mom Project when they dine or shop so businesses know they’re there to support the cause.

Jones isn’t setting a fundraising goal for Tuesday. In fact, she joked that if the event raises “24 cents,” she’ll be ecstatic.

The bigger goal, she said, is getting Manhattan Beach involved.

“We want to engage the residents,” she said. “We want to get the business community excited and to know that, just 10 minutes away, there are families so in need of the help that they can give them.”

A single mother herself, Jones knows firsthand how quickly a family’s financial circumstances can change.

“I know how brutally hard it is — economically, psychologically and in every way imaginable,” said Jones, a former television producer who now spends much of her time on local philanthropic efforts. “Unless you’ve walked in the shoes of a single mom, you cannot even imagine day to day how arduous it is to make your life work.”

Jones founded the Single Mom Project in 2020, initially providing $500 grants to 13 women receiving services through the Richstone Family Center, a Hawthorne nonprofit that supports children and families in need.

Since then, the program, which still partners with Richstone, has grown significantly: This year, for example, Jones expects to distribute $1,000 grants to about 70 women.

And while $1,000 may not seem like a lot when you’re raising kids in Southern California, Jones said, it’s not the amount that matters — it’s helping the moms realize they’re not alone.

“If we can do something that makes them feel better, makes them feel there’s hope, makes them feel that someone (cares) about them,” she said, “then we’ve done something right.”

That sentiment was echoed by Long Beach mother of four Katerra James, who received a grant from the Single Mom Project this year.

“Knowing that there were people willing to help,” James said, “made me feel supported and reminded me that I didn’t have to navigate everything alone.”

The money James received, she said, helped her cover family expenses without needing to chose among various necessities.

“I applied because I knew the grant could give me some relief and help me provide greater stability for my family,” James added. “Even though $1,000 may not seem like a lot to everyone, it gave me peace of mind, breathing room and a sense of stability.”

Jones said she hopes Tuesday’s fundraiser will eventually allow the Single Mom Project to increase the size of those grants.

“Our goal is to keep fundraising,” Jones said, “with the hope that we will be able to give $2,000 every year to all of the people who deserve it.”

Manhattan Beach Mayor Joe Franklin, who helped recruit local businesses for Single Mom Project Day, said it didn’t take much convincing to get them on board.

“It doesn’t surprise me in the least that so many businesses and restaurants were eager to help such a good cause,” Franklin said. “Manhattan Beach is one of the most generous communities you will find. I think it may be because the Single Moms may live very close by, and we are happy to answer their calls for help. It makes me very proud of our residents.”

Participating businesses include Bella Beach, Brewco, Rock ‘n Fish, Pages: a bookstore, Gum Tree, Pancho’s, Lido di Manhattan, Uncle Bill’s, Tabula Rasa, Shellback Tavern and Uncorked Wine. (See the full list below.)

It’s up to each business to decide how much will be donated to the Single Mom Project. But Manhattan Beach business owner Lisa Hemmat, who operates Lido di Manhattan and the new Georgia’s Lounge in Redondo Beach, said she will give back 20% of the check for those who mention the cause on Tuesday.

“As a mom myself, I know how much love, time and energy it takes to raise a child,” said Hemmat, who has a daughter in second-grade in Manhattan Beach. “I have tremendous respect for hardworking single moms who are doing so much on their own.”

Business owner Kris Mackerer-D’Errico, who owns the Manhattan Beach boutique Bella Beach, said she was happy to take part.

“Janet worked with me at Bella Beach, and finding out her story as a single mom and raising her two wonderful boys, and hearing about the trials and tribulations of single moms, was so impressive,” Mackerer-D’Errico said. “And then hearing about and seeing all of her wonderful efforts and results regarding the Single Mom Project. We are so proud of her and all the good she is doing, the ripple effect she is having — and we get to be a small part of that.”

The Single Mom Project isn’t Jones’ only community effort. She also started the Kindness for Kids books initiative in Manhattan Beach, which supplies local libraries with children’s books about kindness and inclusion, and spearheaded Crossing Guard Appreciation Day, now in its third year.

But the Single Mom Project is particularly personal.

“When my husband walked out on us, our lives nosedived. And by that, I mean financially, it became a catastrophe,” said Jones, who became a single mom when her boys were 10 and 7. “I’ll be honest, paying the mortgage, paying the home insurance, getting clothes for my kids, was very difficult.

“I haven’t forgotten crying into my pillow at night,” she added. “Trust me, I don’t forget that.”

But one Mother’s Day in 2012, when Jones was struggling as a single mother, an unexpected card arrived in the mail from a friend who was dying of brain cancer. Inside was a $5,000 check and a message saying he wanted Jones and her boys to thrive.

“It didn’t matter the amount. Trust me, it didn’t,” she said. “What mattered is that he was saying, I (care) about you. And I hope maybe this will make your life a little better.”

Years later, Jones said she hopes to give other single mothers that same feeling of support.

“I want them and their children to thrive,” she said.

Single Mom Project Day

The Single Mom Project Day will take place all day Tuesday, Sept. 8. Participating businesses will donate either a portion of their sales or a designated amount to the Single Mom Project. Customers are encouraged to mention the Single Mom Project when dining or shopping to let businesses know they are there to support the cause.

Participating businesses include: Bella Beach, Brewco, Culture Brewing Co., Esperanza, Fête Bistro by Slay, Go Gently Nation, Gum Tree, Hennessey’s Tavern, Lido di Manhattan, Love & Salt, Mangiamo, Musette, OB’s Pub & Grill, Pages: a bookstore, Pancho’s Restaurant, Right Tribe, Riley Arts, Rock’n Fish, Shellback Tavern, Slay Italian Kitchen, Sloopy’s, Tabula Rasa, Uncle Bill’s, Uncorked Wine, Waterleaf and zinc@shade.

For more information about The Single Mom Project, go to singlemomproject.org.