Petroleum Marketing Group and CITGO Fund Playground for Foster Children

Woodbridge, Va., Dec. 19, 2014 /3BL Media/ – Since its founding in 2001, local CITGO Marketer Petroleum Marketing Group (PMG) has maintained a strong commitment to its surrounding community. After a recent visit to The National Center for Children and Families’ (NCCF) Clinton Farm in Clinton, Md., PMG saw a great opportunity to bring more positive experiences to children there as well as 100 other local foster homes. Together with CITGO, PMG recently provided $4,200 to build a special playground on Clinton Farm’s property.

“Even though these children have gone through some rough experiences in their young lives, there is still a light in them,” said Andre LeBlanc, PMG vice president, operations. “To help brighten that light and help them lead happier and healthier lives, we at PMG have partnered with CITGO to expand our support of the NCCF by purchasing, constructing and maintaining a state-of-the-art outdoor play set for the kids.”

Operated in conjunction with NCCF, Clinton Farm is a 25+ acre estate with a primary home and secondary house. The home currently has two foster parents, several children and two expecting teenagers. NCCF Executive Director Dr. Sheryl Brissett Chapman, who has helped the organization grow from a facility housing 60 children to a comprehensive regional center serving more than 4,000 children, youth and families each year, is working with PMG on the initiative.

“The kids are coming from inner city D.C. and they don’t have many activities to do once they arrive in the country setting at Clinton Farm,” explained Chapman. “We have a large section of the property set aside for the playground. Once developed, it will be known as ‘Camp R.E.A.L.’ and will be a place where other foster care homes can host campouts, workshops, horseback riding and more.”

“We applaud PMG’s efforts to support the kids living at Clinton Farm and we are happy to help provide a healthy, outdoor activity for them,” said Alan Flagg, assistant vice president of supply and marketing for CITGO.

In addition to this donation, E&C Enterprises, PMG Company’s operations entity, pays for the mortgage on the Clinton Farm estate and NCCF operates the foster care home and facility. As part of its partnership with the NCCF and Clinton Farm, PMG employees also volunteer time and money to create a better environment for the children.

“We will help get the home in good condition by focusing on repairs and ongoing maintenance,” LeBlanc added.

Based in Woodbridge, Va. with more than 850 locations in the Mid-Atlantic region, PMG is a leading petroleum distributor and convenience store operator. The more than 1,600 PMG employees have helped contribute more than $250,000 to national healthcare and veterans’ organizations over the past few years.

Founded in 1915 as an orphanage in the District of Columbia, NCCF is a private, nonprofit child and family welfare agency committed to serving poor, disadvantaged, abused, neglected and/or abandoned children, youth and their families in the National Capital Area (NCA). NCCF provides emergency shelters, transitional housing, high-intensity group homes and therapeutic foster care for youth transitioning to adulthood, along with teen parent services and community-based prevention programs promoting academic achievement, parental involvement and healthy families in the NCA.

CITGO is committed to giving back to the local communities it serves through its network of locally owned locations. CITGO Marketers and Retailers in Virginia, like PMG, own and operate more than 260 CITGO locations and are proud to support their communities. For more information on the positive impact of the locally owned CITGO stations, visit www.fuelinggood.com.

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 Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. For more information, visit www.CITGO.com.

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