CITGO and Corpus Christi American Heart Association Help Fight Cardiovascular Disease at Annual Heart Ball

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – March 30, 2016 /3BL Media/ – According to the American Heart Association, 17.3 million people die from cardiovascular disease each year, and the death toll is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030. In an effort to combat this mounting problem, leaders from the Corpus Christi health, philanthropic and local business communities gathered at the Corpus Christi American Heart Association’s annual Heart Ball in mid-February, sponsored in part by CITGO Petroleum Corporation. Leaders from the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery attended the event to help celebrate local volunteers, as well as the Corpus Christi chapter’s many successes in fighting heart disease and stroke.
 
“As our premier fundraising event in the Corpus Christi area, the Heart Ball allows us to share our mission of building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular disease, in a convivial forum,” said Corpus Christi American Heart Association Executive Director Erin Wilder. “Thanks to partners like CITGO, we are better equipped to battle heart-related illnesses throughout the Coastal Bend and beyond.”
 
The American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. More than 22.5 million volunteers and supporters help the American Heart Association fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies and provide critical tools and information to save and better lives. As an active supporter of the Corpus Christi American Heart Association since 2004, CITGO sponsors and participates in events like the annual Heart Walk and the Heart Ball, with CITGO volunteers donating more than 400 hours of their personal time to the Heart Walk over the past five years.
 
“Both CITGO and the Corpus Christi Refinery are committed to being good neighbors and investing in improving the local quality of life,” said CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery Vice President & General Manager Art Klein. “Here in Corpus Christi, we’ve supported the Heart Ball for over a decade, and we look forward to an event that will continue to improve the health of the Corpus Christi community.”
 
For over 80 years, the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery has been a strong supporter of Coastal Bend health initiatives and has sought out opportunities to make impacts in this area. Through local programs and organizations like Charlie’s Place, Camp Aranzazu and the Corpus Christi NAACP Citywide Health Fair, CITGO aims to improve lives in communities where it operates. To bolster initiatives in this area and others, the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery contributed nearly $3 million to community organizations over the last three years.
 
About CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery
The CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery, which celebrated 80 years of operations in 2015, provides more than 1,000 jobs locally, while generating more than $345 million per year in support of the local economy through salaries, services and taxes. In addition to producing high-quality fuels for its network of nearly 5,500 independently owned and operated CITGO branded stations across the country, Corpus Christi refinery employees make a major positive impact on the community. In 2015 alone, CITGO employees in Corpus Christi volunteered more than 2,900 hours of their personal time to local and national charities. Since 2013, the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery and its employees have provided more than 10,000 volunteer hours and approximately $3.3 in support of community organizations 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. The 80th anniversary of the Corpus Christi Refinery last year was preceded by the 70th anniversary of the CITGO Lake Charles Refinery in 2014 and is being followed by the 90th anniversary of the CITGO Lemont Refinery in 2016, with CITGO facilities marking three significant milestones in three consecutive years. For more information on the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery, visit www.citgorefining.com/corpus-christi.

About CITGO
CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information, visit http://www.citgo.com/.