SoCalGas announced that grant applications for the California Restaurant Foundation's (CRF) Restaurants Care Resilience Fund will open from June 15 to June 30, 2024. The fund offers $5,000 grants to 90 restaurants in SoCalGas’ service area, with a total of 278 grants available statewide for qualifying independent restaurants. The grants will go towards technology adoption, equipment upgrades, employee onboarding and retention, or unforeseen hardships.
Past grants allowed restaurant owners to upgrade equipment to more energy efficient models.
This round of grants is made possible by SoCalGas’ $525,000 donation earlier this year to the foundation’s Restaurants Care Resilience Fund to support independently owned restaurants.
Since its inception, the fund has awarded 1,325 grants to independent restaurants across California. Among the recipients, 66% were women-owned and 77% were owned by people of color.
In addition to providing financial support to restaurants, SoCalGas offers programs and services to help business customers select more energy-efficient equipment. Restaurant owners can schedule a ‘Try Before You Buy’ demo with gas cooking equipment before purchasing, 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.
Applications will be open until June 30, 2024, and can be found at www.restaurantscare.org/resilience. Grants will be available to all California-based restaurant owners located in the SoCalGas’s service areas that have less than five units and less than $3 million in annual revenue. For the first time, commercial caterers are eligible to apply, in addition to independent restaurant owners. Priority will be given to restaurants who have yet to receive a grant; however, previous recipients are encouraged to re-apply.
The fund is currently accepting additional support from corporations, foundations, and individuals who want to invest in California’s restaurant community. Donations of all sizes are accepted and celebrated at www.restaurantscare.org/resilience. For more information about the California Restaurant Foundation, Restaurants Care, or the Resilience Fund, please visit www.restaurantscare.org.
SoCalGas’ collaboration with the California Restaurant Fund is part of the company’s ASPIRE 2045 sustainability goals, which includes a goal to invest $50 million to drive positive change in diverse and underserved communities across five years.
