PG&E Partners With Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County to Empower Youth Through Employment

FRESNO, Calif., April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County today announced an innovative program to help underserved youth in Fresno and Clovis prepare for the future through employment today. To further its commitment to economic vitality in the Central Valley, PG&E contributed a $200,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County to establish Fresno as PG&E's pilot location for the PG&E Summer Jobs Program. The inaugural program will provide career readiness training and summer job opportunities to high school youth. The announcement was made today at the Zimmerman Boys & Girls Club in Fresno.

The PG&E Summer Jobs Program will provide career exploration and job skills courses to more than 150 young adults. In cooperation with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County, local nonprofit organizations and small and medium-sized businesses, program participants will be offered a chance to apply for one of fifty summer jobs in the Fresno area. There will be no cost to the businesses that host youth workers for the six-week job program. 

"We have seen our share of economic challenges in the last several years, with unemployment at a staggering 17% in Fresno County," said Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin. "The lack of jobs and career training has a direct impact on the prosperity of our local community, so preparing people to enter the workforce is critical as we address our economic challenges. This program will provide important benefits both to the youth who participate and to the businesses that will provide opportunities."

The PG&E Summer Jobs Program is designed to help young people develop essential skills and to obtain a job during a time when the jobless rate may otherwise have prevented them from finding employment.

"PG&E is proud to help Fresno's young people find jobs in this challenging economic environment," said Greg Pruett, PG&E senior vice president and chairman of the board of The PG&E Corporation Foundation. "Assisting them will provide a valuable boost for the businesses that take part, benefitting the entire Fresno community. It's just one more way PG&E is giving back to the communities we've been a part of for more than one hundred years."

The PG&E Summer Jobs Program is seeking Fresno business owners to apply for a student employee for a period of six weeks this summer. In addition to having an extra pair of hands, owners and managers will need to follow a mentoring curriculum to help young adults develop essential life and job skills.

"We are excited to be able to partner with PG&E to deliver the PG&E Summer Jobs Program," said Diane Carbray, executive director, Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County. "A summer job can not only help ease the burden of back to school costs, it can help provide self-esteem, discipline, self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment that can last a lifetime."

PG&E Summer Jobs Program participants who earn a summer job opportunity will receive a stipend for their employment plus assistance to purchase business-appropriate attire and bus tokens for transportation.

The deadline to submit an application is Friday, April 6. For more information and for instructions on how to apply for the PG&E Summer Jobs Program, please visit www.pge.com/summerjobs. Nonprofit organizations and local businesses interested in applying for a student employee for the summer should contact Kristin Rojas, Director of Operations, Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County, at 559-266-3117 or [email protected].

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County have been providing youth development services for youth ages 6-18 in Fresno County for more than sixty years. Since our first Club opened in West Fresno in 1949, we have expanded across Fresno and Clovis. Our mission is to enable all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Our motto is "Great Futures Start Here."

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), and the PG&E Corporation Foundation strive to power strong communities throughout Northern and Central California. In 2011, PG&E contributed more than $23 million to more than 1,100 charitable organizations, including matching the generosity of employees who donated more than $5.3 million and volunteered over 32,000 hours to company-supported events. Community investments are funded entirely by shareholders. For more information, visit www.pge.com/community.

SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company