Community Service Spotlight: CITGO, Little General Stores & Love's Travel Centers

CITGO Petroleum Corp.

Following up on the earlier donation it made to Team Rubicon in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, CITGO Petroleum Corp. provided an additional $25,000 to the organization to assist with clean up after Hurricane Debby made landfall in southeast Florida's as a Category 1 storm in early August. 

The funds are set to be used for debris removal, chainsaw operations, roof tarping, and mucking and gutting out homes.

"With our recent experience with Hurricane Beryl in the Houston area, we understand what our neighbors in Florida are experiencing right now and we want to help with the recovery," said Chris Kiesling, CITGO assistant vice president of light oils operations and marketing. "We have a longstanding relationship with the people of Florida and the response efforts in Perry will help them restore their homes and businesses as soon as possible."

CITGO recently received the Above and Beyond Award from the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association for its industry and community assistance dating back to Hurricane Charlie in 2004. 

Little General Stores Inc.

Little General Stores Inc. partnered with Arby's locations in the Charleston/Huntington and Beckley/Bluefield markets in West Virginia to help raise funds for the Arby's Foundation. 

The collaboration raised $11,000 and $5,000 for the Children's Home Society and the Raleigh County Board of Education, respectively. 

"I love that I know that the money we give to the Children's Home Society is going directly to the kids — every dollar is accounted for," said Josh Weitzman, assistant foodservice director at Little General Stores. "They send us a list every year of what that money is able to buy." 

Children's Home Society, a nonprofit that serves all 55 West Virginia counties, will use the donation to help support families facing crises, to fund emergency children shelters and support foster care and adoptive families. 

The Raleigh County Board of Education plans to use the funds to support its annual clothing drive, ensuring that all county schools are stocked with extra clothing should needs arise.

Love's Travel Stops

In honor of its 60th anniversary, Love's Travel Stops surprised 68 partner agencies of United Way of Central Oklahoma's (UWCO) with a donation of $6,000 each. 

The $408,000 in total donations came in recognition of the 25-year partnership between the two organizations and will be used to help address issues ranging from homelessness to food insecurities and crisis intervention. 

"Love's is very proud of our legacy with United Way of Central Oklahoma," said Love's Chief Culture Officer Jenny Love Meyer. "Supporting the United Way is a multigenerational effort that started with my parents and has continued to grow within our family and our more than 3,000 corporate employees. We are excited to pay tribute to our partnership through this donation during our 60th anniversary."

The donation comes on top of the work the company did to honor UWCO's centennial milestone in 2023. During the annual fall giving campaign, nearly half of Love's corporate employees reached into their pockets or participated in an auction, raffle or chili cook off to help raise $1.3 million (including company match). 

This year's annual giving campaign for UWCO will be held Nov. 11-22.

NATSO

The NATSO Foundation, the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, awarded $25,000 in educational scholarships to five students with ties to the truck stop and travel center industry.   

Recipients of the 2024 Bill and Carolyn Moon Scholarship are: 

• Kamryn Lemburg, Sapp Bros. York, York, Neb.
• Jaken Lindsey, Petro Stopping Center No. 352, Gadsden, Ala.
• Madison Medlen, TravelCenters of America, Westlake, Ohio
• Katie Nelsen, Sapp Bros. Columbus, Columbus, Neb.
• Jennifer Walsh, TravelCenters of America, Westlake

The scholarships provide assistance to those planning for their post-secondary education. All truck stop and travel center owners and operators, their employees and their legal dependents are eligible. Applicants are selected based on a short essay, academic merit and community activities. 

[Read more: NATSO & Werner Enterprise Introduce New Safety Collaboration]

The scholarship program is named after Bill and Carolyn Moon, who founded the Iowa 80 Group and made substantial contributions to NATSO, actively supporting and participating in industry-related government affairs issues.

The scholarships are financed by proceeds from the NATSO Connect fundraiser and tax-deductible contributions to the NATSO Foundation.  

OnCue

OnCue collected $98,000 worth of nonperishable and personal care items this year to help support the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Our Daily Bread and other food pantries in the fight against hunger and food waste.  

The c-store operator routinely gathers the products from each store annually to update item selection while minimizing waste.  

The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma was OnCue's biggest beneficiary in 2024, receiving more than $63,733 worth of items. As the largest hunger relief charity in the state, the donation will provide approximately 3,845 meals toward the organization's mission of offering nourishing food and pathways to self-sufficiency, an especially important service in a state with a 14.3% rate of food insecurity, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

Since 2020, OnCue has collected more than $331,500 worth of products and more than $50,000 in monetary support to Oklahoma food source centers. 

Pilot Travel Centers

Pilot Travel Centers donated $10,000 to Haywood County Schools in North Carolina. The donation was part of the events celebrating the remodel and reopening of the company's travel center located at 3712 Crabtree Road in Waynesville, N.C.

According to The Mountaineer, the funds will be used to help purchase Chromebooks issued to the student body each school year.

Pilot's travel center updates included a renovated Subway restaurant, improved restrooms and showers, new food selections and self-checkout stations.

TravelCenters of America

TravelCenters of America (TA), part of the bp portfolio, is accepting Citizen Driver 2025 nominations until Oct. 7.

Now in its 15th year, the TA-created program recognizes professional drivers who demonstrate traits that bring a high level of respect to the truck driving profession, including good citizenship, safety, health and wellness, community involvement and leadership. 

As part of the honor, Citizen Driver Award winners may select a TA, Petro Stopping Center or TA Express location to be dedicated in their name. In addition, the winner will receive $5,000 in prize money, while TA makes a $2,500 donation to each winner's organization of choice.

Professional truck drivers can nominate themselves for this award. A panel of trucking professionals will review all the nominees to select the finalists.

Last year, more than 150 nominations were submitted for the award, with nominees including fleet owners and executives, professional drivers, trucking organization members and trucking industry suppliers.

Yesway

Yesway raised $200,000 to support and aid the New Mexico communities in and around Ruidoso which were deeply impacted by catastrophic wildfires.

With an initial commitment to donate $100,000, Yesway launched the campaign to assist one of the many communities where the company operates in the state. More than $40,000 was raised by Yesway and Allsup's customers and employees, while the c-store operator's supplier partners, including Spoetzl Brewery, L&F Distribution, Anheuser-Busch, Delek US Holdings, PepsiCo Inc., Molson Coors and Altria Group Inc., contributed more than $53,000 to help with recovery efforts.

"We feel deeply for the people of Southern New Mexico," said Tom Trkla, Yesway chairman and CEO. "This donation is meant to help ease some of the immediate struggles and give a boost towards recovery and rebuilding. We are grateful to the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico for ensuring these funds are distributed where they will have the greatest impact."