Staff report
Southern California Gas Co. and Sempra Energy have pledged $60,000 to six nonprofit organizations that have provided disaster relief and support services to the communities affected by the Thomas Fire and Montecito mudslides.
Donations were pledged to American Red Cross of Central California, Montecito Now, Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation, Santa Barbara Firefighters Alliance, and Santa Barbara Rescue Mission.
“SoCalGas crews were on the ground working alongside first responders since the first hours of this disaster, and we want to do our part to continue supporting the rebuilding efforts,” said Trisha Muse, director of community relations at SoCalGas.
“SoCalGas and Sempra Energy have always demonstrated their commitment to our community during a crisis, and their donation will be directly earmarked for the purchase of technical equipment for our local firefighters and first responders,” said Paul Cashman, president of the Santa Barbara Firefighters Alliance.
“We were able to offer SoCalGas a location for their staging operations during natural gas service restoration efforts,” said Scott Reed, president and CEO of the Music Academy of the West.
“Helping our neighbors get their heat and hot water back on as quickly as possible after the disaster was important to us, and we were pleased to work with SoCalGas to make that happen,” Reed said.
