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.
SOURCE Southern California Gas Company
