The Fullerton Museum Center is hosting its first Fullerton Gathers, a 5-day long fundraiser event supporting Downtown Fullerton’s eateries and the museum’s essential programs.

Earlier this year in June, the Fullerton City Council voted to temporarily cut funding for the Fullerton Museum Center in an effort to make up for a loss of revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response, this fundraiser event was curated not only to help raise funds for the museum but also to celebrate the community and unity of the city of Fullerton, with an added Thanksgiving theme.

This event will run from Saturday, Nov. 21 through Wednesday, Nov. 25, leading up to Thanksgiving Day. Each day, the museum will partner with a different eating establishment in Downtown Fullerton.

• The kick-off on Saturday will feature two DTF eateries: The Bowery and Twisted Vine Wine, with the event running from 5 to 10 p.m.
• On Sunday, Bourbon Street will be participating from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• On Monday, Let It Brie will be offering take-out only, from 5 to 8 p.m.
• On Tuesday, Fuoco Pizzeria will be taking part from 5 to 8 p.m.
• And on Wednesday, the final day of the fundraiser, Matador Cantina will be participating from 5 to 10 p.m.

All restaurants will be donating 20% of both dine-in and take-out sales to help support the Fullerton Museum.

The Museum Center has been a significant historical, cultural and social center of Fullerton for over 40 years, and now volunteers have been supporting it since it’s cut in funding.

“It offers a lot of diversity in its programming, it’s the cultural heart of Fullerton and it’s very inclusive,” said Board of Trustees member Amy Koorstand.

Every year, the Fullerton Museum Center hosts a Sunrise Rotary event in which they host a dinner with a silent auction and a live auction. At last year’s event, the museum was able to auction three walking tours featuring Downtown Fullerton’s very own restaurants.

“Fast forward this year, when we found out that we were losing our funding from the city, we decided to approach the restaurants and see if they wanted to donate a percentage of their sales. And instead of doing it on one night, we thought that we could capture a lot of different people if we did it on different nights,” Koorstad explained.

Customers who take part in this fundraiser event will support the Fullerton community by helping raise funds for the Fullerton Museum Center and eating at locally-owned businesses.

For more information on the event, visit its Facebook event page, and to help support the museum, sign their petition on Change.org.