CITGO Lake Charles Donates $15,000 to Care Help

The refinery's gift supports a Sulphur food pantry during Hunger Action Month, with TeamCITGO volunteers also lending a hand on site.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Philanthropy

Stacked burlap rice sacks and wooden crates on bare shelving in a plain pantry room, with distant refinery stacks visible through a window. — CITGO's Lake Charles Refinery donated $15,000 to Care Help of Sulphur during Hunger Action Month, supporting a client-choice pantry serving more than 500 households monthly. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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CITGO's Lake Charles Refinery donated $15,000 to Care Help of Sulphur to help address food insecurity in southwest Louisiana. TeamCITGO volunteers also spent a day assisting with pantry operations.

Why it matters

Care Help's client-choice food pantry, the largest in western Calcasieu Parish, serves more than 500 households each month across western Calcasieu and Cameron parishes. The contribution comes in recognition of Hunger Action Month and supports local residents facing food insecurity in the Lake Charles area.

CITGO's $15,000 gift is set against a pantry serving more than 500 households, or roughly 1,800 individuals, each month. The figures do not indicate how many weeks of groceries the donation will fund or whether it will be repeated.

The players

CITGO Lake Charles Refinery

The Lake Charles refinery is a facility of CITGO Petroleum, the Houston-based refining and marketing company with operations across the United States.

Care Help of Sulphur

Care Help is a Sulphur, Louisiana nonprofit that has provided crisis assistance to area residents for more than 40 years.

The details

The donation will help purchase groceries for Care Help's client-choice food pantry, and TeamCITGO volunteers stocked shelves, packaged rice for distribution and supported the Backpack Blessing program, which provides weekend single-serving food items to students facing food insecurity.

Hunger Action Month: CITGO announced the $15,000 donation to Care Help.
Each month: the Care Help pantry serves more than 500 households.

Philanthropy Context

Corporate giving timed to Hunger Action Month, the annual Feeding America awareness campaign, channels national attention on food insecurity into local pantry budgets. The Simón Bolívar Foundation, which CITGO's parent funds, signed 11 new grant agreements in October and reports reach of more than 116,000 people through its initiatives.

Residents facing food insecurity in western Calcasieu and Cameron parishes can seek help through Care Help's client-choice pantry, which serves more than 500 households monthly. Families with students may also benefit from the Backpack Blessing program's weekend food items.

The takeaway

Local food pantries depend on community and corporate support to meet steady demand. Residents who want to help can consider contributing to food drives or volunteering at organizations like Care Help of Sulphur.