CITGO Lemont Refinery Holds Supply Drive Benefitting Local Domestic Violence Shelters

LEMONT, Ill., June 2, 2016 /3BL Media/ – TeamCITGO volunteers at the CITGO Lemont Refinery helped their community by holding a supply drive benefiting three local domestic violence shelters and the at-risk women and children they serve. Based on specific requests from the organizations, CITGO employees and contractors at the refinery, donated personal care products, clothing and household items for the Guardian Angel Community Services, Lamb’s Fold Women’s Center and Crisis Center for South Suburbia.

“We rely heavily on community support, so when companies like CITGO get involved, we know that we will be able to keep meeting both the immediate and ongoing needs of the women and children we protect,” said Ines Kutlesa, CEO for Guardian Angel Community Services in Joliet.

Over the course of three weeks, approximately 1,000 individual items were donated, including baby bottles, diapers, baby wipes, socks, washcloths, paper towels and boxes of kid size snacks. TeamCITGO volunteers collected, inventoried and divided the items between the three shelters based on their current needs.

“The CITGO Lemont Refinery is dedicated to making a difference in the communities where our employees work and live. By collecting items for these shelters, we are helping to empower local organizations that directly impact the lives of at risk women and children in our own neighborhoods,” said Jim Cristman, vice president and general manager of the CITGO Lemont Refinery.

Hosting a supply drive for local victims of domestic violence is just one of the annual collection drives organized by the CITGO Lemont Refinery each year to help members of the surrounding communities. In addition to collecting personal care products, clothing and household products, the refinery, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2016, also holds a yearly winter coat drive for the women and children of the shelters, as well as an annual food drive for area pantries and a toy drive for children around the holidays.

About the CITGO Lemont Refinery
For over 90 years, CITGO Lemont Refinery has employed more than 750 Chicago area residents on a full-time and contract basis in support of the local economy. In addition to producing high quality fuels for a large portion of the network of nearly 5,500 locally owned CITGO stations across the country, Lemont Refinery employees also make a major positive impact on the community. Each year, more than 2,500 volunteer hours and thousands of dollars are given in support of community programs such as Muscular Dystrophy Association, United Way and a variety of environmental and preservation programs. Operations at the Lemont Refinery began in 1925 with a major expansion, doubling the facility, in 1933. Over the years, new units were added to meet the demand for a better quality of gas for automobiles, aviation fuel for WWII, and the production of asphalt. Petróleos de Venezuela, PDVSA, acquired 100% ownership of the refinery in 1997 and began operations as CITGO Lemont Refinery. For more information, visit www.citgorefining.com/Lemont.

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 www.CITGO.com.