AFTER THE RIOTS : Employees of 2 Major Companies Distribute $175,000 in Assistance

Employees of two of the area’s biggest employers have mounted large fund-raising campaigns in the wake of the Los Angeles riots:

* Southern California Edison workers are distributing $150,000, mostly to groups that target Latinos, Asian-Americans and African-Americans. An employees committee selected the recipients. The utility’s unions--Local 47 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Local 246 of the Utility Workers of America--participated in the fund-raising effort.

* The McDonnell Douglas Employees’ Community Fund has granted $25,000 to the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, which distributes surplus food to the needy.