When Pocha LA, a modern Mexican restaurant in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles, signed its lease in February 2020, owner and first-time restaurateur Claire Risoli couldn’t have anticipated that a pandemic would strike soon after.
But she and her staff pushed through. Now, their efforts have been rewarded, thanks in part to a $525,000 grant Southern California Gas Company made to the California Restaurant Foundation’s Restaurants Care Resilience Fund, with other program sponsors including Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas & Electric Company and Wells Fargo. In all, 356 independent restaurants in Central and Southern California, including Pocha, have been awarded $3,000 each to be used toward equipment upgrades and employee retention programs.
SoCalGas alone funded 162 of those restaurants. The grant is part of SoCalGas’ five-year, $50 million investment in community giving. According to David Barrett, senior vice president and general counsel for SoCalGas, it also represents a tangible way to support those businesses that do so much to enhance our lives.
“Restaurants are vital to our communities; they are where we celebrate and socialize,” Barrett told American Gas. “When small restaurants are able to invest in their workforce, such as their employees and in more energy-efficient equipment, they thrive and generate greater benefits for our communities as well.”
Risoli said the money would help her upgrade to a more energy-efficient refrigerator and allow her to show her appreciation to her employees with a loyalty bonus. “They are the heart of Pocha,” she said. —Carolyn Kimmel and Eric Johnson