CITGO Corpus Christi Announces Hands for Hillcrest Grant Recipients

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Oct. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CITGO Petroleum Corporation and its Corpus Christi refinery have announced today the recipients of $500,000 worth of grants under the first year of the company's Hands for Hillcrest program.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121022/PH97155 )

The initiative is aimed at supporting local non-profit organizations that provide crucial services to the Hillcrest Community. It was launched this past May to distribute $1.5 million over three years.

"It is very exciting to be here today to announce the progress we have made in efforts to strengthen and revitalize the Hillcrest Community," said Sonny Loudon, vice president and general manager of the CITGO Corpus Christi refinery. "We look forward to the positive results that the program will generate for the benefit of our neighbors."

The following local organizations will be receiving grants this year:

• Big Brothers & Big Sisters
• Communities in School for the Coastal Bend
• Corpus Christi Literacy Council
• It's Your Life Foundation
• LEAD First Foundation
• Mary McLeod Bethune Day Nursery
• Mission of Mercy
• United Way of the Coastal Bend
• YWCA Corpus Christi
• Nueces County Community Action Agency

All qualified Corpus Christi-based 501(c)(3) organizations who offer services to the Hillcrest Community related to job development/training, education, health and the environment were eligible to apply for grants. A seven-member community advisory committee assisted in reviewing the applications and determining which programs were to be funded.

The CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery directly employs more than 1,000 local residents while generating more than $625 million per year in support of the local economy through salaries, services and taxes. In addition to producing high quality fuels for the network of nearly 6,000 independently owned and operated CITGO branded stations across the country, Corpus Christi refinery employees make a major positive impact on the community. Over the last five years, CITGO and its employees have given almost 13,000 volunteer hours and nearly $6 million in support of community programs such as United Way, Charlie's Place, Muscular Dystrophy Association, The Miracle League, Catholic Charities, the Special Olympics and a variety of environmental and preservation initiatives, such as the revitalization of the Gateway to Corpus Christi, Hans and Pat Suter Park and Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up.

Our initiatives in the Hillcrest Community and throughout our regions are designed to make a lasting positive difference, and are in direct alignment with the social development principles of our ultimate shareholder, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products.  The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

For more information visit www.citgo.com.

SOURCE CITGO Petroleum Corporation