Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Times of San Diego
SDG&E Awards $1 Million to Environmental Champions Amplifying Support for Local Initiatives
By Debbie L. Sklar,
2024-06-14
A sign outside a San Diego Gas & Electric building. Courtesy of the company
San Diego Gas & Electric will award close to $1 million in grants to 30 recipients of the 2024 Environmental Champions Award Grants, continuing the company’s long-standing commitment to supporting local environmental initiatives through habitat restoration and urban greening projects.
Since its inception in 2011, the program has provided critical funding to numerous nonprofit organizations, with over $10 million invested in community-based environmental efforts in the past seven years alone.
“SDG&E is committed to driving positive environmental change through strategic collaborations with local organizations,” said Estela de Llanos, SDG&E vice president, land and environmental services chief sustainability officer. “By increasing our grant amounts this year, we hope to amplify the impact of these initiatives, fostering healthier and more sustainable communities.”
For 2024, SDG&E has increased the range of grant awards to between $20,000 and $40,000, up from previous years. This enhancement aims to provide more substantial support to initiatives that can help improve the local environment in San Diego County and southern Orange County.
More than 85% of this year’s Environmental Champions grants benefit diverse and underserved populations. Program delivery ranges from Palomar Mountain to Tijuana River Valley to Borrego Springs, to help share the benefits of environmental progress equitably across the region.
One Environmental Champions grant awardee is San Diego Children and Nature. It intends to use its $35,000 SDG&E grant to install one community garden and three schoolyard pollinator gardens, integrating local wildflowers, shrubs, and trees.
“These funds will contribute to urban greening in Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, and Lemon Grove, increasing biodiversity and serving as inspiration for other schools and communities to follow suit,” said SDCaN Executive Director Tara Faud. “Additionally, these gardens can engage the community in dialogue about the many benefits of ‘greening’ the places we live, work and play.”
SDG&E provides additional support to grantees and other organizations through volunteerism and personal donations. SDG&E employees gave more than $800,000 in personal donations through payroll deductions to nonprofit organizations last year alone. SDG&E also hosts several volunteer programs including Environmental All Stars and SDGivE which pair employee volunteer projects with smaller charitable grants.
For more information about the Environmental Champions grant program and to see a full list of this year’s award recipients and their featured projects, please visit www.sdge.com/community.
2024 SDG&E Environmental Champions grantees include:
Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation, in partnership with Wildcoast
Anza Borrego Desert Natural History Association
Bayside Community Center
Botanical Community Development Initiatives
California State Parks Foundation
Circulate San Diego
Coastal Roots Farm
Downtown San Diego Public Spaces Foundation
Earth Discovery Institute
Fallbrook Land Conservancy
Forever Balboa Park
Garden 31 Community Initiatives
Global Action Research Center, in partnership with Berry Good Food Foundation
Healthy Day Partners
Indigenous Regeneration
Leah’s Pantry, fiscal agent for Barrio Botany
Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation
Nature Collective
Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center
Paradise Gardeners
Project New Village, in partnership with Treedom
San Diego Canyonlands
San Diego Children and Nature Collaborative
San Diego Parks Foundation
San Diego River Park Foundation, in partnership with YMCA
Servicing Every Soul
Tree San Diego
UC San Diego Foundation, Scripps Oceanography/Birch Aquarium
Urban Corps of San Diego, in partnership with CA State Parks
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
Comments / 0