Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) announced grant applications for the California Restaurant Foundation (CRF) are set to open this weekend, offering $5,000 grants to 177 local restaurants. 

The grants are scheduled to be open from Saturday, April 15, to Sunday, May 7, and are set to go toward helping restaurants with technology adoption, equipment upgrades, employee onboarding and retention, or unforeseen hardships, according to officials. 

“SoCalGas is partnering with the California Restaurant Foundation’s Restaurant Resilience Fund for the third consecutive year with grants for independent restaurants. Restaurants are the fabric and flavor of our local communities, and the work of the foundation helps support and sustain local restaurant owners, their employees, and their businesses,” said David Barrett, SoCalGas senior vice president, general counsel, and California Restaurant Foundation board member.

This latest round of grants follows SoCals’ $1 million donation earlier this year to the foundation’s Restaurants Care Resilience Fund to support independently owned restaurants. 

Together this brings this year’s fund total to $2.1 million, making it the largest Restaurants Care Resilience Fund to date since the program started in 2021. 

Since its inception, the Resilience Fund has awarded 788 grants to independent restaurants across California. 

Among them, 68.5 percent were women-owned and 83 percent were owned by people of color.

“We are so grateful for SoCalGas’ continued support of our Restaurants Care Resilience Fund, as it allows us to help independent restaurant owners in central and southern California to build resilience and strengthen their business for the long term,” said Alycia Harshfield, executive director of the California Restaurant Foundation. “The Resilience Fund grants directly benefit the local community by providing restaurant owners with financial assistance to adopt new technologies, upgrade equipment, promote employee training and retention, and weather unforeseen hardships. Thanks to SoCalGas’ generosity, this will be our biggest and most impactful Resilience Fund yet!

SoCalGas also offers programs and services to help business customers select energy-efficient equipment. 

Restaurant owners can schedule a ‘Try Before You Buy’ demo with cooking equipment before purchasing. 

They can also request a no-cost energy survey to be conducted by a utility expert, and obtain information on rebates and incentives for eligible gas cooking equipment, water heating, heat recovery products and energy efficient upgrades installation. 

“California’s restaurants have faced unprecedented challenges throughout the pandemic, and this grant from the California Restaurant Foundation and SoCalGas will provide funds to help small businesses continue to be a part of our communities,” said Assembly Member Miguel Santiago.

Commercial customers are invited to attend our No-Cost Foodservice Equipment Expo, April 25th-26th from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the SoCalGas Energy Resource Center. 

At the expo, commercial customers can reconnect and rebuild, discover new operational savings and performance tools and learn about new products and technologies for success. 

Grants are set to be available to all California-based restaurant owners located in the SoCalGas service areas that have less than five units and less than 43 million in revenue. 

Priority is set to be given to restaurants that have yet to receive a grant, however, previous recipients are encouraged to re-apply. 

The Resilience Fund is currently accepting additional support from corporations, foundations and individuals who want to invest in California’s restaurant community. 

SoCalGas’ partnership with the California Restaurant Fund is part of the company’s ASPIRE2045 sustainability goals, which include a commitment to invest $50 million to drive positive change in diverse and underserved communities across five years. 

“We are so thankful to SoCalGas for last year’s grant. We were able to purchase a new refrigerator for our kitchen, and with the funding, upgraded it to a more energy-efficient model that better serves my customers and the planet,” said 2022 grant recipient Claire Risoli, owner of Pocha LA in Highland Park. “I was also able to award my steadfast employees with a bonus on their paycheck for their loyalty and service, despite the hardships we experienced the past few years. Our team is the heart of Pocha and I know my food is not my greatest asset – my people are.”

Resilience Fund applications will be open from April 15 to May 7, 2023, and can be found online. 

Donations of all sizes are accepted and celebrated online. For more information about the California Restaurant Foundation, Restaurants Care, or the Resilience Fund, visit the website.

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