SOUTH PARIS, Maine, Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CITGO Petroleum Corporation and local CITGO Marketer C.N. Brown Company are proud to once again sponsor the "Buy A Shamrock" campaign to benefit the local chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Today through March 17, customers can purchase $1 green paper shamrocks or $5 gold shamrocks at any CITGO Big Apple Food store in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Local community members can also get involved by "Liking" the C.N. Brown Rewards Facebook page to be automatically entered for a chance to win a CITGO Gift Card during the promotion.

"We are amazed by the outpouring of support we see for organizations like the MDA," said Jinger Duryea, president of C.N. Brown Company. "Year after year the community outdoes itself. The continued generosity of our customers makes us proud, especially when we know the great work that MDA does for local families living with neuromuscular diseases."

C.N. Brown Company and its customers have raised more than $4.5 million to benefit MDA over the past 28 years. Proceeds raised in the "Buy a Shamrock" campaign will help the local MDA chapters of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont send children to MDA summer camps and support MDA research and physical therapy consultations. MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat neuromuscular disease through worldwide research, comprehensive services and far-reaching professional and public health education.

Since 1948, C.N. Brown Company has provided quality products, employment opportunities and community support across New England. As the owner of Big Apple Food Stores, Red Shield heating oil locations and independently operated gasoline stations across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, the locally owned, family business plays an important role in the communities it serves. The more than 900 C.N. Brown Company employees are also committed to fueling good by supporting a wide range of charitable and community programs.

As MDA's largest corporate sponsor, CITGO has raised more than $160 million since 1986 to help provide health care services for MDA families nationwide and to rally local communities to raise awareness and help find treatments and cures for neuromuscular disease.

CITGO is committed to giving back to the local communities it serves through its network of locally owned CITGO locations. Independent CITGO Marketers, such as C.N. Brown, own and operate more than 400 CITGO locations in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts and are proud to support their neighborhoods.

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