LOS ANGELES, Nov. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of Veteran's Day, Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) today announced it has donated $12,000 to California State University, Northridge (CSUN) to enhance the availability of technologies that improve learning and future employment opportunities for CSUN student veterans and students with disabilities.

The donation presented to CSUN's Veterans Resource Center (VRC) and Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) is being used to develop media literacy skills among veterans and students with disabilities who rely on adaptive technology—screen readers, closed captioning and the like-- to perform academic tasks such as writing and reading. Since 2018, SoCalGas has donated $22,000 to the two organizations.

"The technologies funded by SoCalGas' generous donation will provide our students with new strategies for learning," said DRES Director Jodi Johnson. "If our students feel confident comprehending now while they're at CSUN, then that will leverage their future careers and help them to succeed outside of the classroom as well."

Among these tools is Read&Write, a software program that helps users read with greater ease by hearing emails or documents read out loud to text prediction, picture dictionaries, summary highlighters and a grammar, spelling and confusable words checker.

"We are proud to support the CSUN community and its students through our partnership with VRC and DRES. The work these organizations do on campus is so important for veterans, students with disabilities and the community," said David Meza public affairs manager at SoCalGas.

The partnership between SoCalGas and DRES was forged by CSUN alumnus Louis Herrera, who works as a customer programs specialist at SoCalGas. Herrera, who is blind, is a role model and inspiration for SoCalGas employees.

SoCalGas has volunteered and contributed to numerous organizations that aid veterans and those with disabilities including FrontSight Military Outreach, Meals on Wheels, Furnishing Hope, United Way and Habitat for Humanity. What's more, SoCalGas offers an employee resources group — Veterans Advancing Leading and Optimizing Results (VALOR) — dedicated to supporting veterans within the company and in the communities SoCalGas serves.

This donation is just one part of SoCalGas' ongoing partnership with the CSUN community. In addition to the company's $10,000 donation in 2018, SoCalGas supported CSUN's 2017 Feria de Educación, a daylong fair for the community featuring educational workshops in English and Spanish, and CSUN's annual volunteer program Matadors Day of Service, when hundreds of student volunteers participate in gardening and clean-up activities in neighborhoods around campus. Also, in 2017 SoCalGas sponsored CSUN's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Clinic, which offers free tax preparation services to eligible taxpayers in the San Fernando Valley.

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. 

SOURCE Southern California Gas Company