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In The Community

Employees at SONGS are dedicated to performing at the highest professional level, and to supporting the communities in which they work and live. Here you will find the latest updates on our work in the community.

SONGS Adopts 43 Military Families for the Holidays

SONGS employees adopted 43 Camp Pendleton families for the holidays through the Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA Secret SANTA (Support And Nurture Those Americans who serve) program. This program was created to provide assistance to the most junior service members with children. Each service member or their spouse completed a wish list of holiday gifts for their family, which were then purchased by SONGS employees and delivered to the YMCA. SONGS employees are also collecting unwrapped toys for Family Assistance Ministries, located in San Clemente, and Brother Benno’s and Ivey Ranch Park, both located in Oceanside.

In addition, Edison International recently made a $10,000 donation to the Armed Services YMCA to support their Operation Hero program, which provides after-school mentoring and tutoring to elementary-aged children. Operation Hero is offered at all five Camp Pendleton elementary schools for free, and all facilitators are credentialed teachers and most are also military family members so they are well equipped to lead this program. The program targets children in grades kindergarten through eight who are experiencing temporary challenges in school and/or academically or socially.

For more information on the Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA, please visit www.camppendletonasymca.org.

Edison Supports Ocean Pollution Awareness Initiative

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC), located in Laguna Beach, recently received a $25,000 grant from Edison to support their Ocean Pollution Awareness Initiative, a program for 4th and 5th grade students that involves increasing the knowledge and consciousness of the many issues surrounding the health of our oceans. At the end of the program, each student will be able to:

• • Draw a picture of the path street trash takes to the ocean
• • Describe how at least one type of pollution can harm sea life
• • Explain one thing that they can do to eliminate marine pollution
• • Share this information with friends and family through take away materials

PMMC is a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of marine mammals stranded along the Orange County coastline, mainly seals and sea lions. Its mission is to increase public awareness of the marine environment through education and research. Edison and the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station have been supporting the Center for many years.

For more information on PMMC, please visit www.pacificmmc.org.

Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside Gets Edison Grant

The Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from Edison International to support their “Be Great: Graduate” program. Be Great: Graduate is a mentor program that takes place onsite at local schools during the school day, and provides a variety of activities and programs for a long-term mentoring relationship that is built on trust and open communication, with the goal of building the student's belief that "they can, they want to and they belong." The activities include, sports and recreation, computer skills, music and homework assistance, among others. The Boys & Girls Club collaborates with teachers and faculty at the various schools to share information and resources and to identify the greatest need. For more information on the Boys and Girls Club of Oceanside, please visit www.bgcoceanside.org.

SONGS Sponsors Annual Ivey Ranch Hoedown

SONGS recently sponsored the 7th annual Ivey Ranch Park Western Hoedown, which raised more than $25,000 and was attended by more than 300 people. Ivey Ranch provides educational and recreational activities for children and adults with disabilities. More than two-thirds of their children have moderate to severe disabilities which include behavioral disorders, genetic disorders and other disabilities. School-age children come for after-school and summer care and Ivey Ranch also operates a pre-school, in-home respite services and a summer camp.

Ivey Ranch provides a program for veterans called Horses for Heroes. Veterans are able to participate in therapeutic riding as well as group activities in ground exercises with the horses.

For more information, please visit www.iveyranch.com.

Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association Partners with SONGS

SONGS recently made a donation to the Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association (DSBIA) in Dana Point to support a marine-based, environmental awareness exhibit and education program. The program, which includes field trips for schools in underserved communities, involves exhibits such as a tide pool touch tank, aquarium observation and discovery, butterfly garden observation, and educational programs based on the ocean environment, ocean safety, and environmental responsibility.

The DSBIA was incorporated in 1982 as a non-profit, public benefit corporation based on the following principles:

• Promoting the educational and interpretive activities of the State Park System at Doheny State Beach.
• Producing and making available to park visitors suitable interpretive and educational materials.
• Acquiring appropriate objects for display related to the natural history of the Doheny area.
• Maintaining a relevant interpretive library for Doheny State Beach.
• Assisting in the development and improvement of interpretive facilities and programs.

For more information, please visit www.dohenystatebeach.org

It's in the Bag: SONGS Provides Grocery Bags to FAM

For the last two years, SONGS has provided shopping bags to Family Assistance Ministries (FAM), a San Clemente-based non-profit food bank. The shopping bags, which contain a shopping list of foods items needed for donation, are handed out by FAM representatives at community events. The idea is that if you pick up a bag, you will take it to your local grocery store, fill it with the items listed, and then return it to FAM.

“We are so delighted to partner with SONGS on getting help to people in need in the community,” said Mary Gray Perdue, executive director, Family Assistance Ministries. “Thank you so much for your kind generosity.”

FAM provides food, shelter, and client aid to thousands of people in South Orange County. They also provide utility assistance, transportation assistance, medical, dental, prescriptions assistance, financial counseling and courses as well as collaborating with other social services organizations to provide referrals and medical screenings, immunizations, eye glasses, and much more. Last year FAM redistributed $2,000,000 in food to the hungry in South Orange County, more than $90,000 in cash aid in the form of vouchers and bills paid, and they average 60 women and children annually in their transitional shelter, Gilchrist House.

For more information on Family Assistance Ministries, please visit www.family-assistance.org.

San Clemente Open House a Hit with Community

On August 15, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station brought the plant to residents of San Clemente. About 250 members of the public joined experts from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station at the San Clemente Community Center to learn more about the plant.

Attendees could learn about how the plant operates, emergency response, radiation, environmental projects the plant sponsors, the steam generator project as well as security at the plant and more. About 50 SONGS volunteers were on hand to answer questions.

Among the attendees were local elected officials and community leaders. Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Pete Dietrich was present to speak about the plant with attendees.

"It was great to see so many families attend," said Barbara Culverhouse, community outreach manager. "Parents could learn about the plant while their children could do arts and crafts and get their faces painted."

Here are some photos from the event.

The next open house is planned for October 29 in San Juan Capistrano.

SONGS Participates in Ocean Festival

On Saturday and Sunday, July 16 and 17, volunteers from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, along with volunteers from Family Assistance Ministries staffed a booth at the San Clemente Ocean Festival.

Family Assistance Ministries gave out grocery bags for festival attendees to fill up and bring back to their food bank, and SONGS staff spoke with attendees about the Wheeler North Kelp Reef and San Dieguito Wetlands environmental projects. SONGS staff also gave out mini first aid kits and had fun arts and crafts projects for children.

Here are some photos from the event. More than 1,000 festival goers visited the booth, which was in a prime location just north of the San Clemente pier.

Wheeler North Reef Exhibit Opens at Casa Romantica

On Wednesday, July 20, Bob Groves will be speaking at Casa Romantica in San Clemente about the Wheeler North Reef. Bob is a Southern California Edison scientist and reef architect.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Edison International had awarded a $100,000, three-year grant to San Clemente's Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, in support of an environmental education program and ocean exhibition focusing on Southern California Edison's successful Wheeler North Reef, which is located off the coast of San Clemente. The first component of this program, a permanent exhibit in the Discovery Gallery, is now open. The exhibit includes photos, maps and other information about the reef, as well as a video showing much of the reef marine life. If you are interested in visiting the exhibit, please visit the Casa Romantica website at www.casaromantica.org for more information.

SONGS to Help Fund Beach Interpretive Displays

he San Onofre Foundation, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to assist the California Department of Parks and Recreation in protecting and preserving both San Onofre and San Clemente State Beaches, has received a $10,000 grant from Edison International. The grant will go towards the funding of nine interpretive panels at three or more separate locations within the two beaches.

The interpretive panels identify educational themes and messages which help develop the historic, cultural and biological stories that equate to the sense of place and value that is the essence of each unique beach. The interpretive panels will include:

• Wheeler North Reef and the importance of kelp bed restoration
• Site location map of Capistrano Bay and northern San Diego county with significant landmarks and points of interest
• State park history at San Clemente State Beach
• A historical timeline of surfing at San Onofre
• A historical narrative of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and the development of San Onofre State Beach
• The history of SONGS and the role of utilities and infrastructure in the development of Southern California
• Education on the Faerie Shrimp, an endangered species that lives in vernal pools adjacent to San Onofre State Beach
• Surfing rules of the road, including alternate surf craft zones at San Onofre
• The Acjachemen, the first people to occupy the coastal zone of San Onofre

For more information on the San Onofre Foundation, please visit www.sanofoundation.org.

Local Cultural Center Receives $100,000 Grant from Edison International

San Clemente's Casa Romantica Cultural Center & Gardens recently received a $100,000 grant from Edison International, which will support a three-year environmental education program and ocean exhibition that incorporates the successful Wheeler North Reef Project. The reef is visible from the Casa's Ocean Terrace which thereby lends itself to a rare, living lesson opportunity.

Key components of the program include:

• Fieldtrips to the Casa for third and fourth grade students from four local Title I elementary schools.
• Community presentations which focus on local environmental education awareness and include the Wheeler North Reef Project.
• A marine-themed, environmental awareness exhibition on display in the Casa galleries during the summer of 2012.
• Educational tools that are essential to the outdoor learning laboratory program which is based on the California state science curriculum standards; to include an all-weather telescope for the ocean terrace and a new digital audio-visual center.

"The grant partnership aids Edison in achieving its core philanthropic goals of supporting educational programs, promoting environmental awareness, and meeting the needs of underprivileged children," said Pete Dietrich, SONGS Chief Nuclear Officer, who delivered the check to Casa Romantica officials.

Casa Romantica's Executive Director, Jenifer Finley said, "We are thrilled to receive this funding from Edison. It will allow us to further fulfill a core aspect of our mission, namely to educate people about our unique southern California coastal environment. Although this is a project that is made possible by corporate philanthropy, what has emerged is a unique partnership between two organizations committed to education."

For more information on Casa Romantica, please visit www.casaromantica.org.

SONGS Sponsors Adopt-a-Class Program

Through a grant provided by Edison International, SONGS recently sponsored three 5th grade classes from San Clemente Las Palmas Elementary School to participate in a "Marine Mammal Cruise" through the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. This Adopt-a-Class program, which is focused on learning opportunities for underprivileged students, is one of the signature programs offered by the Ocean Institute.

Over a three-day period, one class per day, the students from Las Palmas enjoyed a cruise through the Dana Point Harbor and surrounding ocean, aboard a large research ship, and were treated to whale, dolphin, and seal and sea lion sightings. In addition, the students were able to use microscopes and other marine research equipment to investigate various organisms and plant life dredged from the ocean floor. Three scientists from the Ocean Institute led the program and set up three different stations on the boat to encourage and facilitate as much learning as possible.

In a letter to SONGS after the cruise, one of the students commented, "I learned a lot of things about sea life thanks to you. This was probably the best field trip ever. I really appreciate what you do for our school." For more information on the Ocean Institute, please visit www.ocean-institute.org.

SONGS Participates in FEMA-Graded Drill

On June 16, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) evaluated a contaminated injury exercise with SONGS personnel, Mission Hospital of Laguna Beach and Orange County Fire Authority. The purpose of the exercise was to assess the level of local preparedness in response to a real medical emergency of a contaminated SONGS employee.

The exercise was held in accordance with FEMA’s policies and guidance concerning the exercise of State and local Radiological Emergency Response Plans (RERP) and procedures. Every year, SONGS Offsite Emergency Planning department, Health Physics and the Fire Department partner with local hospitals to simulate the arrival and treatment of a radiologically-contaminated patient from SONGS in an emergency situation. The drill also included mock media at the hospital site.

SCE has emergency plan medical agreements with four local hospitals in Orange and San Diego counties to treat employees in case of radiological emergencies, including South Coast Medical Center, Saddleback Memorial Hospital-San Clemente campus, Tri-City Medical Center and Mission Hospital.