LOS ANGELES, Aug. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California
Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced the company will award 60
students from Southern and Central
California scholarships totaling $232,000. Recipients were evaluated on academic
achievement, community engagement, and an essay about California's clean energy future. This year,
86 percent of scholarship recipients were minority students.
"At SoCalGas, we believe that a well-educated workforce is
essential for a vital and economically healthy community. That's
why we are proud to contribute to the education of students
pursuing higher education through our annual scholarship program,"
said Andy Carrasco, vice president
of strategy and engagement, and chief environmental officer at
SoCalGas. "Helping students prepare for their professional careers
is part of our commitment toward supporting the communities we
serve."
SoCalGas partnered with more than thirty community and
non-profit organizations to identify this year's recipients.
Graduating high school students attending a vocational school,
technical school or community college will receive $1,000, while transferring community college
students and high school graduates attending an accredited
four-year college or university will receive $5,000.
Yolanda Carrion, a graduate from
South East High School in South
Gate who will attend the University of
Southern California this fall said, "I am a first-generation
student planning to major in Public Policy at the University of Southern California. I am eager to
begin to help address the social justice issues that plague my
community. For now, it is as a student and in the future I hope as
a community organizer. I am thankful for the new opportunities
SoCalGas has awarded me and the continued support from my friends
and family."
Mikhai Davis, a Culver City High
School graduate attending Santa Monica
College in the fall said, "This scholarship means so much to
me and will be very helpful because it will give me the ability to
pay for my books allowing me to focus more on them than their
expenses. It will help me in my major of business by allowing me
not to worry about covering certain expenses. I am very grateful
for this opportunity and will use it to broaden my horizons."
Another scholarship recipient, Hailey
Gough, said, "I attended Ernest
Righetti High School. I will be attending the California State University of Fullerton. As of
now, my major remains undeclared. Although I do not yet know what
career path I will pursue, I am thinking of working in the sports
industry. To me, this scholarship shows that hard work does not go
unnoticed, and that consistent effort will eventually earn
recognition. To my family, this scholarship serves as reimbursement
for all the support and resources they have put into me and my
successes. As I begin my college career and choose the profession I
want to pursue, this scholarship will help support my goals and
remind me that constant persistence results in success."
In addition to providing academic scholarships, SoCalGas
supports technology-based learning in science, engineering, and
math at schools across the company's service territory. Last year,
the company provided more than $1.5
million in grants to hundreds of educational organizations
in Central and Southern
California. For more information about SoCalGas' charitable
giving, please visit the 2019 Community Giving Report.
Since its launch in 2001, SoCalGas' scholarship program has
provided more than $2.7 million in
scholarship funding to more than 2,500 students.
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.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company