OXNARD, Calif., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today partnered with Clinicas
del Camino Real (Clinicas) and
Meruelo Enterprises to deliver hundreds of hygiene items and
dry goods to farmworkers and their families who have been impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic. The contactless donation event was
organized through Feeding the Frontline: Feeding Our Farmworkers.
SoCalGas also donated $5,000 to the
organization. Photos and videos from today's drive are available
here.
"SoCalGas recognizes the importance of supporting farmworkers
during these challenging times with not only affordable energy but
also with basic necessities like hygiene items and food," said
Maria Ventura, public affairs
manager at SoCalGas. "We are proud to partner with Clinicas and
Meruelo Enterprises, and to see our employees stepping up to help
others in the communities we serve."
"As one of the founding members of Feeding the Frontline, I am
proud to partner with SoCalGas and Meruelo Enterprises in
continuing our efforts," said Roberto S.
Juarez, Chief Executive Officer at Clinicas del Camino Real, Inc. "We are thankful for partners
like SoCalGas and Meruelo Enterprises who support important
initiatives within our communities."
"Farmworkers have been unsung heroes during this pandemic. As a
minority-owned enterprise, we feel a deep responsibility to give
back and help the minority communities and workers that keep our
economy going. Our diverse employees have embraced the 'Feeding Our
Farmworkers' initiative, and because of our partnership with
SoCalGas, we're able to make a significant impact for these
workers," said Elizabeth Martinez,
Director, Government Relations at Meruelo
Enterprises.
For today's drive, SoCalGas and Meruelo employees purchased
items from Feeding The Frontline's Amazon wish list or
dropped off donated items at Clinicas' headquarters in Camarillo. Employees donated hygiene items
such as hand sanitizers, paper towels, diapers, soap, shampoo, face
coverings, and gas cards as well as dry goods such as white rice,
corn tortillas, beans and more.
Feeding Our Farmworkers is made up of business owners and
community leaders from Ventura
County who've joined together to provide food, support and
recognition to the thousands of farmworkers providing essential
duties in Ventura County during
COVID-19. The group's mission is to feed frontline workers by
mobilizing local resources and planning regular food distributions
specifically for farmworkers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since April, Feeding Our Farmworkers has held 27 food
distribution events with over 21,000 farmworkers' families served.
Over 300 tons of food have been donated and distributed by
community partners like SoCalGas and Meruelo Enterprises.
In addition to the $5,000 donation
to Clinicas, SoCalGas has given more than $2.74
million to nonprofit organizations for COVID-19 recovery
efforts since March to support the region's workforce, feed the
hungry, provide bill assistance to customers, and more.
Together, the Sempra Energy family of companies–including
SoCalGas's sister California utility San Diego Gas and Electric,
and the Sempra Energy Foundation–have donated more than $12.5
million to those in need during this crisis.
For more information on SoCalGas's response to the COVID-19
pandemic, please visit www.socalgas.com/coronavirus.
About Feeding the Frontline
Feeding the Frontline: Feeding Our Farmworkers is a group
of business owners, non-profits, and community leaders from
Ventura County, including
Clinicas, Ruby's Restaurant, The Port of Hueneme, Del Monte, The Local Love Project and Gloria's
Restaurant & Bar, that have joined forces to provide food,
support and recognition to the thousands of farmworkers providing
essential duties during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ventura
County.
Feeding the Frontline seeks "to feed those who feed us" by
visiting farms and community locations to provide free lunch or
dinner to farmworkers, as well as providing essential products and
healthy boxed food to those who have not stopped their duties while
the rest of Ventura County
residents have to stay at home.
About Clinicas del Camino Real
(Clinicas)
Clinicas is a non-profit organization operating 15 clinic sites
and 3 mobile units across Ventura County. The mission of
Clinicas is to provide quality, comprehensive, and preventive
health care services to the County's community at rates that are
consistent with ability to pay. Clinicas has historically
served underserved populations although all patients are
accepted.
About Meruelo Enterprises
Meruelo Enterprises, Inc. (MEI) is a leader in integrated
construction solutions. MEI is one of the leading Latino-owned,
MBE certified utility + commercial construction contractor in
California. We provide planning,
construction, engineering, design and management services for large
scale public and private projects serving the gas, electric, water
utilities, transit construction services and high-tech
installations.
For more than 75 years, customers have trusted MEI with both
small and large-scale projects due to our commitment to safety,
quality, and experience in the construction industry. We bring
added value to each project as we continue to grow our portfolio of
companies. Our companies include Herman Weissker Inc, Doty Brothers
Construction Co., Tidwell Excavating, Neal Electric Company and
Select Electric Inc. For more information visit our website
https://merueloenterprises.com/ or connect with MEI on
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MerueloEnterprisesInc.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is
the largest gas distribution utility in the
United States. SoCalGas delivers
affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable 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. 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 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. By developing renewable gas from
our state's abundant organic waste streams, we can help to meet our
climate goals sooner, while diversifying our carbon-free energy
sources, improving energy resilience and reliability, while also
creating additional renewable fuel and jobs for our communities.
SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery
infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our customers.
From 2014 through 2018, the company invested nearly $6.5
billion to upgrade and modernize its pipeline 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.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socalgas-employees-lead-drive-to-donate-food-and-hygiene-items-for-farmworkers-in-ventura-county-301115111.html
SOURCE Southern California Gas Company