LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced the winners of
its 2019 Environmental Champions Initiative, which awards grants of
up to $25,000 for projects related to
clean air, energy, or organic waste diversion. Twenty-six
nonprofits were selected to receive a total of $400,000 in funding.
"SoCalGas is proud of our annual Environmental Champions
initiative and thrilled to partner with this year's group of
champions," said George Minter,
regional vice president of external affairs and environmental
strategy at SoCalGas. "Each organization is leading the way towards
improving the quality of air and energy in our region. We are
excited to see our champion's projects grow and the impact they
make in the community."
Cal Poly Pomona Foundation Inc. is a two-time grant recipient
for its Healthy Soils & Clean Air project for 2020. The project
encourages Southern California
farmers and gardeners to adopt healthy soil practices and improve
our environment on a grass-roots level. Soil, if properly managed,
can trap carbon and prevent it from escaping into the
atmosphere.
"With the SoCalGas Environmental Champions grant, students have
been able to connect with communities across Southern California and encourage them to take
care of their soil. People we've talked to find it eye-opening that
soil is not 'just dirt,' and that taking care of soil improves air
quality and mitigates climate change by capturing carbon," said Dr.
Aaron Fox, Assistant Professor,
Urban and Community Agriculture at California State Polytechnic
University, Pomona (Cal Poly
Pomona).
SoCalGas' Environmental Champions grant has provided funding for
over ten Cal Poly Pomona students to participate in this project.
These students have learned about sustainable land management
practices and interacted with the public at numerous events,
communicating with hundreds of people about soil's role in
improving our environment. One such event was held today,
highlighting practices such as compost application and crop
covering that improve soil health and sequester carbon. Photos from
today's Healthy Soils Demonstration Day are available here.
Another grant recipient, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps,
will use its funds to help the environment while feeding the hungry
and employing the jobless through its food waste prevention
program. The program collects tons of food waste per week from
dozens of supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants, then
partners with nonprofit Meeting Each Need with Dignity (MEND) to
distribute the food to over 30,000 people per month. Inedible food
waste is composted or converted to renewable natural gas (RNG).
"Los Angeles has the largest
food insecure population in America and many of the young people in
our Corps understand that challenge all too well," said CEO
Wendy Butts. "This program is
allowing at-risk young adults to gain valuable paid work experience
and put food on their own tables by providing food to thousands of
others in need. At the same time they are bringing awareness to the
growing environmental challenge of food waste. The impact on people
and the planet is exponential and we hope to see it grow."
Two-time grant recipient North East Trees will use this year's
grant to plant 300 drought tolerant trees and renovate an
underutilized park within Romana Gardens, a section 8 public
housing development in Boyle Heights.
"Not only do trees beautify our community, but they also provide
oxygen, improve air quality, lower depression/stress, and are
beneficial to the environment in so many other ways. On behalf of
North East Trees, I am proud of the growth that our Urban Greening in South LA project has had over
the past few months, and the impact it has had on our community,"
said Joe Laskin, Project and
Development Manager at North East Trees. "We thank SoCalGas for
recognizing our work and for its generous contribution to our
cause."
Other 2019 SoCalGas Environmental Champions include:
- BREATHE California of
Los Angeles County: The
Blue Sky LA program will help the organization clean Southern California's air as Los Angeles prepares for the 2028 Olympics.
The organization will engage Los
Angeles residents through monthly volunteer opportunities
and will promote collaboration while establishing Los Angeles as a global leader in the
reduction of harmful pollutants.
- The Santa Monica Bay Foundation: The organization's
Table-to-Farm Composting for Clean Air program is a solution for
food waste and air pollution in the South
Los Angeles community. As part of the program, the Bay
Foundation will install four edible garden beds in South Los Angeles parkways, and will educate
the community on gardening and food equity.
- DIY Girls: Funding will support Invent Girls, an
intensive year-long program that guides thirty high school girls
through the engineering design process to build prototypes that
address issues in their community.
- CHOC Foundation: The Breathmobile Program is
Orange County's only mobile asthma
clinic dedicated to increased asthma control for low-income
children at Orange County schools
and community sites. The Breathmobile brings a range of diagnostic
services, education, evaluation, and treatment to more than 300
school-aged children monthly, removing barriers to consistent and
comprehensive asthma treatment and providing continuity of care for
children and their families.
Since its inception in 2015, the Environmental Champions
Initiative, which is funded by Sempra Energy shareholders, has
awarded more than 150 grants totaling nearly $2 million. A complete list of this year's
twenty-six grantees can be found here.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los
Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest natural gas
distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable,
reliable, clean and increasingly renewable natural gas service to
21.8 million customers across 24,000 square miles of
Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of
residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying
clothes or other uses. Natural gas delivered through the company's
pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to
Californians— about 45 percent of electric power
generated in the state comes from gas-fired power
plants.
SoCalGas' vision is to be the cleanest natural gas utility in
North America, delivering
affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In
support of that vision, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20
percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable
natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from
waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment
plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its natural gas
system infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our
customers. From 2014 through 2018, the company invested
nearly $6.5 billion to upgrade and modernize its natural
gas system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a
subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy
services holding company based in San Diego. For more
information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with
SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas)
and Facebook.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company