SULPHUR, La., April 25, 2018 – The CITGO Lake Charles Refinery recently honored TeamCITGO volunteers for 2017 community contributions at the annual We Are Volunteer Employees awards banquet. The event took place at CITGO Park in Sulphur, La.
This special event, which coincided with National Volunteer Week, served as an opportunity for the CITGO Lake Charles Refinery to mark more than 3,500 total volunteer hours donated through 50 local partner and company events in 2017.
The top volunteers of the year for 2017 were recognized during the fiesta-themed program as were CITGO employees, retirees, friends and family members who donated five or more hours of volunteering last year.
Top TeamCITGO employee volunteers of the year included Central Maintenance Machinist Inside Linus Conner, 54 hours; Process Design Engineer David Sears, 54 hours and Industrial Hygiene Specialist Joe Bilbo, Sr., 70 hours. CITGO friends and families’ volunteers of the year were also recognized, including Pam Bergeaux, 68 hours; Priscilla Williams, 61 hours and Carl LeFrere, 55 hours as well as the youth volunteer of the year: Lindsey Hudson, 31 hours.
In addition, CITGO retiree and TeamCITGO Retiree Representative Patrick Bergeaux was presented with the Bob Carroll Legacy Award named after the late Bob Carroll, a lead TeamCITGO member who exhibited the character and mission of TeamCITGO to go above and beyond the call of duty in volunteer efforts. Bergeaux was presented with the Legacy Award in recognition of his commitment and dedication of service to TeamCITGO throughout the last 30 years.
“TeamCITGO volunteers step up and offer their time and talents to worthy causes year-round,” said Jerry Dunn, Vice President and General Manager, CITGO Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex. “Our red TeamCITGO shirts are a familiar sight in Southwest Louisiana and for that we are very proud. Through steady volunteering, our employees and their families embody what our community is all about; a community that cares deeply about its neighbors, friends and loved ones.”
Founded in 1987 in the Southwest Louisiana community, TeamCITGO is committed to making a positive impact in the communities where CITGO operates. Over the years, the organization has grown from a small, local volunteering group to a corporate-wide force for good, lending a hand to important causes on an ongoing basis, including for Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and United Way, among many others.
In the company’s operating regions, TeamCITGO volunteers have supported relief efforts in the aftermath of critical catastrophes such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, severe weather and tornadoes in Central Alabama in 2011, and most recently, short- and long-term recovery work after Hurricane Harvey and Irma impacted the Gulf Coast in 2017. In the Southwest Louisiana region, TeamCITGO has donated time and money to organizations including the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Boys Village, Children’s Miracle Network, E.K. Key Elementary School, Junior Achievement, the Lake Charles Symphony, McNeese State University Banners Series and Sulphur Care Help.
About CITGO Lake Charles
CITGO has been part of the Louisiana community for more than 70 years. The company’s operations in the state include a refinery, products terminal and several miles of pipeline. The CITGO Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex was strategically built in 1944 to supply fuel for U.S. military forces that protected the Gulf Coast from German U-Boats during World War II. Today, the CITGO Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex is the sixth-largest refining facility in the United States. As the largest of the three CITGO refineries, the Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex consists of a modern, deep-conversion facility with a crude oil refining capacity of 425,000 barrels per day (bpd). The facility employs approximately 1,100 regular full-time employees and approximately 800 contractors in Southwest Louisiana. The state of Louisiana has approximately 100 independently owned CITGO retail stations.
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.