Delivering Joy With Pizzas, Hamburger Patties
Delivering Joy With Pizzas, Hamburger Patties
Every month, Ada Tsui drives to Southern California Edison’s Foodservice Technology Center in Irwindale to pick up and deliver freshly made foods like pizzas and hamburger patties to the Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley & Eastside in Monterey Park.
Team members from SCE’s income-qualified programs and Foodservice Technology Center worked together to start a food donation initiative with the Boys & Girls Club. The food comes courtesy of SCE customers, who often stress test various electric cooking equipment, such as pizza ovens, fryers and griddles, and from in-house, energy-efficiency testing at the utility’s one-of-a-kind lab.
“Because of the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic, a lot of people are experiencing food insecurity,” said Tsui, a senior business operations specialist who currently manages marketing for SCE’s income-qualified programs. “Giving back to the community is more important than ever, and this was an opportunity to do two things: give back while limiting food loss.”
Oliver Ta, an SCE engineer who manages the Foodservice Technology Center, wholeheartedly agrees with Tsui and emphasized the rigorous safety measures that helped ensure these food donations happened.
“The team and I are already very safety conscious, as required by the foodservice industry, and have always been diligent in sanitization and handwashing,” said Ta. “During the pandemic, we ramped up these safety efforts and have been very thorough to avoid undue risk — COVID-related or otherwise.”
Data from the various lab tests of electric cooking equipment also help inform the utility’s rebate programs, which incentivize customers to buy more energy-efficient products and appliances.
Customers who become more energy-efficient and switch to all electric are, in turn, helping California reach its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals. According to SCE's Pathway 2045 white paper, the state needs 70% of all buildings to be electrified by 2045.
“Because of the nature of our work, we’ll always have food ready for donations,” said Ta. “I don’t ever see us stopping these donations. If anything, we are always on the lookout for more partnerships to support the community.”
Kurtis Sundblom, the director of advancement and philanthropy at the Boys & Girls Club, believes that strong partnerships are why the organization has been able to continue supporting the community throughout the pandemic.
“For us to be able to do the work we have accomplished the last year and a half, we could not have been able to do that by ourselves at all; we had so many amazing partners, “ he said. “These food donations from SCE are an example of a partnership that has allowed us to achieve our success in the most difficult of times.”
During the pandemic, the Boys & Girls Club had to pivot away from its traditional in-person afterschool programs and services to food distribution, resources allocation, mental health and counseling.
The organization has since given out more than 800,000 pounds of groceries and meals, $600,000 in financial assistance to keep families from becoming homeless, hundreds of Chromebooks and computers for distance-learning students and 2 million face masks.
“My staff and I always said from day one that we weren’t going to stop serving our communities, our families, because they need us, and the kids need us,” said Sundblom. “Because of our partnership with SCE, the kids can consistently count on having this food to bring home every month.”
Especially the pizza.
“The kids see the pizzas and are like, ‘Oh what? We are getting pizza again?! We want the pizza!’” said Sundblom with a laugh. “They totally look forward to it.”
SCE customers interested in testing electric cooking equipment can click here. To learn more about how to support the Boys & Girls Club, visit wsgvbgc.org.