CITGO’s Lake Charles Refinery — in honor of Hunger Action Month — recently announced a donation of $15,000 to Care Help of Sulphur to address food insecurity in southwest Louisiana.
Care Help has provided crisis assistance to area residents for more than 40 years. This contribution will help purchase groceries for Care Help’s client-choice food pantry, the largest food pantry in western Calcasieu Parish. Each month, the pantry serves more than 500 households, representing approximately 1,800 individuals, across western Calcasieu and Cameron parishes.
TeamCITGO volunteers recently spent a day at Care Help assisting with food pantry operations, including stocking shelves, packaging rice for distribution and supporting the organization’s Backpack Blessing program, which provides single-serving food items to students facing food insecurity on weekends.
“Addressing hunger takes more than a financial contribution. It takes people willing to step up and serve,” said CITGO Lake Charles Refinery Vice President and General Manager Sterling Neblett. “Through this partnership, we’re proud to support the important work Care Help is doing while giving our employees the opportunity to make a hands-on difference for families in our community.”
“For a family struggling to put food on the table, being able to choose groceries they need brings both relief and dignity,” said Care Help Executive Director Jody Farnum. “CITGO’s generous gift helps us keep nutritious food on our shelves, and TeamCITGO volunteers bring helping hands and caring hearts to that mission. We are grateful for their partnership in making sure our neighbors have somewhere to turn when times are hard.”
The Lake Charles Refinery’s contribution and volunteer efforts are part of a broader CITGO initiative during Hunger Action Month, with CITGO locations across the country supporting local hunger relief organizations in the communities where they operate.
In October, CITGO’s nonprofit organization, The Simón Bolívar Foundation, announced that it signed 11 new grant agreements to support programs in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and the U.S. Taken together, the initiatives have an estimated reach of more than 116,000 people in need. Their estimated scope also encompasses more than 1.2 million units of medicines and vitamins distributed and more than 922,000 meals delivered.
“This year reinforced that meaningful humanitarian work demands both steadiness and flexibility. We leaned into innovation, adapting and expanding partnerships that allowed us to reach communities where assistance had become increasingly difficult to deliver,” said Pablo Pérez Barreiro at the time, a member of the Simón Bolívar Foundation board of directors.
Since 2020, the foundation and its partner organizations have broadened the scope of their charitable programs.
“We signed agreements that targeted one million beneficiaries. Today, I am proud to share that our actual numbers have far exceeded that milestone, reaching close to 1.5 million vulnerable individuals. This impact is made possible through the steadfast collaboration of our partners, and the dedication of our exceptional team,” said Mariela Poleo, president of the Simón Bolívar Foundation.
