Southern California Gas Co. has announced that grant applications for the California Restaurant Foundation’s Restaurants Care Resilience Fund will open April 15 to May 7, making $5,000 grants available to 177 restaurants in SoCalGas’ service area, with a total of 360 grants available statewide for qualifying independent restaurants.
The grants will go toward technology adoption, equipment upgrades, employee onboarding and retention, or unforeseen hardships.
This latest round of grants follows SoCalGas’ $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.
“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.
Since its inception, the Resilience Fund has awarded 788 grants to independent restaurants across California. Among them, 68.5% were women-owned and 83% 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.”
Resilience Fund applications will be open from April 15 to May 7 and can be found at restaurantscare.org/resilience. Grants will be available to all California-based restaurant owners located in the SoCalGas’ service areas that have less than five units and less than $3 million in revenue. Priority will be given to restaurants who 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. Donations of all sizes are accepted and celebrated at restaurantscare.org/resilience. For more information about the California Restaurant Foundation, Restaurants Care, or the Resilience Fund, visit restaurantscare.org.
First published in the April 15 print issue of the Burbank Leader.
