California funds its public schools at a level that leaves a gap, and in the South Bay that gap gets closed by parents. Every district here has an education foundation. Several have two. Between them they move millions of dollars a year into classrooms, and they pay for the things that make a school day feel different: smaller class sizes, the music teacher, the science specialist, the counselor, the art program.
There is a second thing worth understanding about them, which nobody writes down. The largest social events on the South Bay calendar are these fundraisers. The Manhattan Wine Auction is not a school event that happens to be big. It is one of the biggest nights of the year in Manhattan Beach, full stop. If you are new here and wondering how people meet each other, this is a large part of the answer, and you do not need a child in the district to buy a ticket.
Which foundations serve which districts?
| Foundation | District | Signature event |
|---|---|---|
| Manhattan Beach Education Foundation (MBEF) | Manhattan Beach Unified | The Manhattan Wine Auction, late spring |
| MBX Foundation | Manhattan Beach Unified | Funds athletics facilities, arts and after school enrichment |
| Hermosa Beach Education Foundation (HBEF) | Hermosa Beach City School District | Hearts of Hermosa, spring |
| Redondo Beach Educational Foundation (RBEF) | Redondo Beach Unified | Annual Investor Drive, plus a spring gala |
| El Segundo Education Foundation, known as Ed! | El Segundo Unified | The Ed! Gala, a Friday evening benefit |
| Peninsula Education Foundation (PEF) | Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified | Toast on the Coast in September, plus the Skechers Walk |
Torrance, San Pedro and the Silicon Beach communities are served by larger districts with different funding structures, and their parent organizations tend to operate at the individual school level rather than district wide.
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What is the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation?
MBEF is the largest of the local foundations and the one whose event has become a civic institution. It funds teaching positions and programs across Manhattan Beach Unified.
The Manhattan Wine Auction began in 1993 as a small gathering of parents. The 31st annual auction, held 30 May 2025 at the Bay Club’s Manhattan Country Club, sold out at more than 2,400 guests and raised $1.4 million. The format is more than 45 restaurants, roughly 80 wineries, breweries and distilleries, over 20 live auction lots and several hundred silent auction items.
Proceeds go to the MBEF Endowment Fund, which contributed $1.2 million in the 2024 to 2025 school year, about 19 percent of MBEF’s total grant to the district. That endowment structure is what separates MBEF from most school foundations: it is building a permanent funding base rather than living year to year.
Tickets sell out. Get on the list in winter, not in May.
What is MBX?
MBX is the second Manhattan Beach foundation and it exists because MBEF’s remit does not cover everything. MBX funds athletics facilities, arts and athletics programs, and after school enrichment. Manhattan Beach is one of the few districts anywhere with two separate foundations operating at this scale, which tells you something about how much private money flows into these schools.
What is Hearts of Hermosa?
The oldest event of the group, and the one that started the genre locally. On 14 February 1996, about 50 parents held a Valentine’s dinner to raise money for Hermosa schools. That dinner became the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation.
It now runs as an auction, dinner and dancing evening at Hermosa Vista School in the spring. The food, drinks and auction items are donated by local restaurants, bars, businesses and parents. It is smaller and more neighborly than the Manhattan auction, which is the point rather than a shortcoming, and it reflects a district of roughly 1,500 students rather than 5,900.
What does the Redondo Beach Educational Foundation do?
RBEF takes a different approach. Rather than leaning on one large gala, it runs an Annual Investor Drive, a direct giving campaign framed around sustained investment rather than a single night, supplemented by business partnerships and a spring gala.
That structure suits the district it serves. Redondo Beach Unified enrolls 9,484 students, more than Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach combined, across eight elementary schools, two middle schools and Redondo Union High. A broad base of smaller recurring gifts covers more ground than one night can.
RBEF also has a presence at the Village Runner Fourth of July races, which is a good example of how the foundations and the local event calendar are intertwined.
What is the Ed! Gala?
The El Segundo Education Foundation brands itself simply as Ed!, and it was founded in 1983 by a small group of parents, businesses and district administrators. It is a partnership structure rather than a purely parent-led one, which reflects El Segundo’s unusual position as a small city with very large corporate neighbors.
The Ed! Gala is its largest fundraiser, a Friday evening benefit featuring more than 30 South Bay restaurants, a silent auction of donated local goods, and a live auction. Ed! also runs a Community Appeal and maintains an endowment.
What does the Peninsula Education Foundation do?
PEF supports all 17 schools in Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified, which makes it the widest remit of any local foundation. It funds programs and teaching positions across the whole Peninsula rather than a single city.
Its primary fundraising events are Toast on the Coast in September and participation in the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk in October. PEF also holds an Impact Celebration recognizing donors, held at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center.
The Skechers Walk connection is worth noting: it is the one event that pulls in families from across multiple districts at once, and education funding is one of the things it supports.
Why does this matter if you are buying a house here?
The longer version of this argument is in our post on why the biggest parties of the year here are fundraisers.
Three practical reasons, stated plainly.
- It explains the social calendar. If you move here and wonder where people actually meet, a meaningful share of adult social life in the beach cities runs through these organizations and their events. Buying a table is a normal way in.
- It explains why parcel taxes and bonds pass. Manhattan Beach voters approved the Measure MB parcel tax in 2018. El Segundo passed a $92 million bond. Hermosa passed Measure HV in 2024. These communities vote to tax themselves for schools with some regularity, and the foundations are part of the same civic habit.
- It is a real, ongoing ask. These foundations fundraise every year because the funding gap recurs every year. If you are moving into one of these districts, expect to be asked, and expect the ask to be social rather than transactional.
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Foundation details, event formats and figures verified against each organization’s own published materials in September 2026. Event dates, formats and totals change annually. Confirm with the foundation before relying on any of it.