LOS ANGELES, June 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California
Gas Co. (SoCalGas), Homeboy Industries, and Alma Family Services
today hosted a drive-thru meal distribution event to benefit
East Los Angeles families affected
by the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was made possible in part
thanks to a $25,000 donation from
SoCalGas to Homeboy Industries' Feed HOPE program, which provides
meals to Angelenos facing food insecurity due to the pandemic. More
than 5,000 meals were distributed to 1,000 families through Alma
Family Services' coordination of a collaborative event with other
local community organizations. Please see here for photos from the
event.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has been met with heartrending and
widespread hunger among hardworking families in East Los Angeles," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. "I am working with Alma Family
Services and SoCalGas to make sure that families don't go hungry. I
am committed to fighting hunger, and I want people to know that if
you need sustenance, we are here for you."
"As we navigate through this pandemic, it is important that we
come together to help the most vulnerable members of our
communities," said Trisha Muse,
director of community relations at SoCalGas. "At SoCalGas we are
proud to support this event by not only feeding our community, with
the help of Alma Family Services, but by also helping Homeboy
Industries provide meaningful work for their café and bakery
employees."
Since 1992, Homeboy Industries has helped former gang members
and inmates have an opportunity to acquire job skills and seek
employment in a safe, supportive environment. In the wake of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the organization launched the Feed HOPE program
to give back to the community while bringing in funds to keep their
employees working and their businesses running. Homeboy Industries
has been partnering with businesses and organizations from the
nonprofit and public sectors to create and deliver prepackaged,
healthy meals to those suffering food insecurity in Los Angeles through this program. The meals
provided at today's event were made by men and women who have
completed Homeboy Industries' 18-month program and are currently
part of their Feed HOPE initiative. SoCalGas' donation to the
program, will help the organization hire and train employees for
their Homegirl Café and Homeboy Bakery.
"We are grateful for the partnership with SoCalGas, the Office
of Los Angeles County Supervisor
Hilda Solis and Alma Family
Services, in support of our Feed HOPE project," said Thomas Vozzo, CEO of Homeboy Industries. "The
collaboration highlights the commitment and dedication to ensuring
services and care are provided to the Los
Angeles communities we serve. This work is more important
than ever, especially because of the social and economic effects of
COVID-19. Ongoing, critical services to address such things as food
scarcity is an important focus for so many of us who are—at this
moment—working with those on the margins."
Since 1975, Alma Family Services has provided a wide range of
supportive services in Los Angeles
County. Alma Family Services, which is dedicated to
advancing the quality of life of families and individuals coping
with a range of needs, has mobilized resources to help those most
impacted by the pandemic. In partnership with Supervisor
Hilda Solis and other elected
officials as well as systems of care, Alma Family Services is
helping families cope with the impact this crisis is having on all
life domains, including food security, which can also trigger
significant emotional angst for families who are already
experiencing multiple stresses.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated social and economic
inequities, hitting those most vulnerable among us extremely hard,"
said Diego Rodrigues, executive vice
president and chief operating officer at Alma Family Services.
"Alma is pleased to have the opportunity to provide resources to
our community members through innovative partnerships with local
organizations. We are grateful for LA County Supervisor
Hilda Solis' leadership and
SoCalGas' generosity which helped feed 1,000 families in the
East Los Angeles Area. Alma is
proud to serve alongside those investing in our most impacted
communities during these unprecedented times."
SoCalGas employees also volunteered at the event, distributing
meals and sharing information on customer assistance programs. The
utility also donated four pieces of commercial cooking equipment to
Homeboy Industries to help support their operations, in addition to
this $25,000 donation.
To date, SoCalGas has donated more than $2 million to nonprofit organizations to support
the region's workforce, feed the hungry, provide bill assistance to
customers, and more as part of its COVID-19 recovery
efforts. For more information on SoCalGas' response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, please
visit www.socalgas.com/coronavirus.
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.
Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms,
landfills and wastewater treatment plants. 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.
About Homeboy Industries
Homeboy Industries is the largest and preeminent gang
rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. For 32 years, the
organization has offered an "exit ramp" for those stuck in a cycle
of violence and incarceration, helping them develop the strength
and skills to transform their lives and become contributing members
of our community. The organization's holistic approach, with free
services and programs, supports nearly 9000 men and women per year
as they work to overcome their pasts, reimagine their futures, and
break the intergenerational cycle of gang violence. Therapeutic and
educational offerings (case management, counseling, and classes),
practical services (e.g., tattoo removal, work readiness, and legal
assistance), and job training-focused businesses (e.g., Homeboy
Bakery, Homegirl Café & Catering, and Homeboy Electronics
Recycling) provide healing and alternatives to gang life, while
creating more inclusive and healthier communities.
About Alma Family Services - Providing Quality Services
to Families for Forty Five Years
Alma Family Services was established in 1975 in East Los Angeles by parents to provide, along
with other purposes, a comprehensive range of multilingual
community-based services for families including those with special
needs. Since its inception, Alma has a "whatever it takes"
tradition of multilingual, culturally competent services to meet
client's needs in their homes and residential facilities, schools,
social and vocational programs, juvenile facilities, and other
settings as appropriate. Alma has expanded services to additional
communities through 16 service locations in the County of
Los Angeles and one (1) service
location in the Jurupa Area of Riverside
County. Alma also provides mental health services which are
functionally integrated within community health facilities and
domestic violence programs in the greater East Los Angeles and San Gabriel communities including The Wellness
Center at the Historic General Hospital Center in Boyle
Heights.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company