CITGO Rewards Twelve Fueling Good Winners

HOUSTON, Jan. 3, 2013 /3BL Media /PRNewswire/ - CITGO Petroleum Corporation is adding to its million miles of good by recognizing and rewarding the top 12 charities from the recent Fueling Good promotion.  With more than 300,000 votes cast to determine the winners, these non-profit organizations will each receive $5,000 in CITGO Gift Cards to further promote the good work they do and the support they provide in their local communities. Since its launch in 2009, the CITGO Fueling Good program has generated more than a million miles of good for more than 200 charities across the CITGO footprint.

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"Rewarding our Fueling Good charities is always very exciting because we get to see first-hand how they are affecting real change in their communities," said Gustavo Velasquez, vice president of supply and marketing for CITGO. "We have a diverse group of local heroes to recognize and are honored to award them for what they do each day. Like CITGO, these organizations draw on their strengths to help people in need."

The 12 winners in the Fall 2012 Fueling Good program are spread across 11 states in the CITGO footprint:

• Colors for a Cause – Helps families in Louisiana pay for expenses such as travel and household bills when a child, mother, or father is fighting cancer.
• Information Technology Disaster Resource Center – Offers technological resources and operations assistance for disaster-stricken areas, primarily via a disaster response bus based in Fort Worth, Texas.  
• CFS Solutions of West Michigan – Provides support programs and events for people in West Michigan who suffer from neuro-endocrine diseases including chronic fatigue syndrome.
• Samaritan House Community Center – Serves the hurting and hungry of Northwest Arkansas by providing snack packs to students with limited resources.
• Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation – Gives social and educational resources to immigrant populations in the New York area.
• Head Start of Fayette County – Delivers early childhood development programs that educate, encourage, and empower children and their families in Fayette County, Pa.
• American Youth Rugby League Association (AYRLA) – Offers after school programs in the Providence, R.I. area that teach middle and high school students positive values such as teamwork, hard work, discipline, and non-violence through sports.
• Haitian Student Parent Solidarity Association – Provides educational resources and materials to students in Haiti from its base in West Haven, Conn.
• Kopper Top Life Learning Center – Delivers therapeutic services to the disabled and others via animal/equine therapy practices around Liberty, N.C.
• Community Learning Center – Works to reduce dropout rates through tutoring services and offers life skills programs for underprivileged youth in the Clearwater, Fla. area.
• Southern Sustainable Resources (SSR) – Works to promote conservation, education, community action, public engagements, and scientific economic and social research in South Carolina.
• Sarasota Military Academy – Provides education, life skills, and value training to students, while encouraging them to participate in community service from its base in Sarasota, Fla.

"We hope that the gift cards will provide these local organizations with the support they need to extend their Ripple of Good," added Velasquez. "Just as these local heroes have inspired us at CITGO, we are confident that they will inspire others to fuel good in their own communities."

More than 300,000 votes were cast online to determine the 12 winning organizations. The non-profits are 501(c)(3) organizations providing services in one of four categories: Environmental Protection and Restoration, Education and Social Investment, Energy Assistance and Conservation, and Health and Well-Being. To learn more about the Fueling Good program and past winners, 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 Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

For more information visit www.CITGO.com.