Malibu Pacific Church is encouraging Malibu residents to participate in GoLocalMalibu, an initiative they introduced in January to help local businesses find normalcy after the L.A. Country fires.
The idea behind the initiative is to help out struggling businesses and give residents a chance to show support for the community. Residents play blackout bingo with the partnered businesses to win merchandise and prizes said Joel Dunn, online pastor at Malibu Pacific Church.
“This is what we do in Malibu — we rally for one another,” Dunn said.
The Beginning
The project, spearheaded by Dunn, is the church’s own effort to help out local businesses who were affected by the fires.
“We have a couple of business owners who attend the church,” Dunn said. “They said business was down.”
The project then became something bigger.
“We just started rallying around the different little restaurants and decided we can create a movement, a grassroots movement that helps the local businesses,” Dunn said.
The staff at Malibu Pacific Church said they aim to show their unwavering support to the Malibu community.
“We don’t do life alone, you know?” Dunn said. “That’s what I want the local businesses to know and the local owners to know, that we love them and that they are the lifeblood of this community.”
The success of the implementation of the GoLocalMalibu movement stems from the support it has received from many, Dunn said.
Illustrator Annie Ludes was in charge of the logo.
“She literally hand drew all of the different business signs,” Dunn said. “We have even a new logo that’s coming out with 10 new restaurants.”
The church’s lead pastor, Andy VomSteeg, who is part of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce, and Chris Wizner, president of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce, were also key players in the planning of the GoLocalMalibu initiative.
How to Participate
Residents need a bingo card to participate, and they can be acquired physically from participating restaurants or online through the GoLocalMalibu Instagram page.
Participants will have to take a photo dining at or buying from the businesses and tag the Instagram page, Dunn said.
“We will then message people who are playing the game and send them some merchandise,” Dunn said. “All of a sudden, a hat will come in the mail and you got a $25 gift card to that restaurant.”
An even bigger prize will be handed to those who black out the entire bingo card, Dunn said.
“You black out the entire bingo card by going to all the different restaurants,” Dunn said. “We have a couple people really working towards that, and we will have some really large prizes as well.”
Dunn said the prizes and gift cards are a way for the church to show appreciation for those who support their movement and the local community.
Senior Sofia Hernandez said she loves supporting local businesses, and has felt even more inclined to do so following the fires and mudslides in Malibu.
“I play to support the businesses,” Hernandez said. “But I also play because it has turned out to be a great way of getting to know Malibu better.”
Pepperdine students, as a pillar of the Malibu community, are a key target audience for GoLocalMalibu, Dunn said.
“I’m just grateful that Pepperdine students are ingrained in the community,” Dunn said. “Number one, to serve, and to support and to really be champions of this community.”
The restaurants who have supported the GoLocalMalibu movement are in contact with the organizers daily, as they try to set the initiative into motion across Malibu, Dunn said.
Bui Sushi, one of Malibu’s local sushi restaurants located in Malibu Colony Plaza, is set to begin its participation with GoLocal Malibu in the coming weeks, said Mauricio Gonzalez, general manager at Bui Sushi.
“They gave us the the idea and the concept that they wanted to do and we thought it was pretty nice of them,” Gonzalez said. “They just purchased the gift cards, and then they were going to spread them out to the locals.”
However, actively participating businesses like Scott’s Malibu Market said they have already seen an increase of customers since the initiative’s implementation.
“They’ve helped send a lot of people here,” said Scott Richter, owner of Scott’s Malibu Market. “Then now, they’ve become repeat customers, so it’s a great initiative.”
The work that GoLocalMalibu is doing will help the community in the long run, Richter said.
“Helping people find ways to support local is really important,” Richter said. “Otherwise, local businesses won’t really be around.”
What’s Next for GoLocalMalibu
The road to recovery after devastation, such as what Malibu has seen post-fires, can range from mere days to several years. GoLocalMalibu is the start of the recovery journey for a slowly recuperating Malibu.
“This isn’t just a one month, two month, boost in the arm kind of a deal,” Dunn said. “It’s really a long term thing.”
GoLocalMalibu has plans of expanding further as recovery efforts continue, Dunn said.
“We’re already talking with city council members how we can turn GoLocal into possibly a city passport of visiting,” Dunn said.
As the success of the movement grows, so does its influence within the community and the goals they try to accomplish.
“We are also trying to work out the tourism inside of Malibu,” Dunn said. “We’re trying to figure out how we can make it a multi-day city instead of just a one day city.”
Within the plans to expand, Dunn said GoLocalMalibu is actively pursuing the idea of hosting bigger scale events that will attract even more people to Malibu.
“We’re actually working on a possible music festival that’s going to be coming up,” Dunn said. “Three nights of music with a list stars doing acoustic sets and regular sets.”
The event will invite local vendors, shops and boutiques to participate in hopes of driving up the foot traffic in Malibu.
“We celebrate all things Malibu,” Dunn said.
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Contact Karla Suzuki via email: karla.suzuki@pepperdine.edu
