Tesoro Teams With Meals On Wheels
SAN ANTONIO -- Tesoro Corp. will team with the Meals On Wheels Association of America Foundation (MOWAAF) and will donate 2 cents of every gallon of gasoline sold at its nearly 475 Tesoro and Mirastar locations during June 23-25 to the association. MOWAAF's mission is to raise public awareness about the issue of senior hunger in America and to provide funding to local Meals On Wheels programs so they can serve homebound seniors within their communities.
"Meals On Wheels can literally mean the difference between life and death for many frail elderly in this country. Poor nutrition clearly contributes to a number of serious and life-threatening chronic diseases. We view hunger itself as a disease, but one for which we have a cure," said Enid Borden, CEO of the Meals On Wheels Association of America Foundation. "We are thrilled that Tesoro is providing national leadership and setting an example for other corporations. Corporate affiliations like the one between MOWAAF and Tesoro are the prescription for wiping out the plague of hunger and provide our organization with the financial resources to help provide nutritious meals to those in need of them."
Local Meals On Wheels and other senior nutrition programs serve more than 1 million meals per day. But it is estimated that 2 million more meals are needed daily to meet the current need. The programs rely on volunteers to deliver meals, and in many cases the volunteers are senior citizens on fixed incomes. In recent months, some volunteers have reduced their participation or dropped out of the program entirely, resulting in cutbacks in meal deliveries to frail seniors in some areas of the country.
"If local meal programs are going to meet the nutritional needs of those individuals in the community who cannot provide meals for themselves, then these programs must have additional resources," said Borden. "Tesoro is not only committing to its own donation but also allowing other Americans to contribute by doing a simple thing -- purchasing gas at their local Tesoro or Mirastar locations. We are urging drivers to pull up to the pumps June 23-25. The more gas they purchase, the more seniors we can feed."
In addition to providing MOWAAF with all funds raised during the campaign period, with a minimum guaranteed amount of $100,000, Tesoro is also funding a public awareness campaign for MOWAAF to bring attention to the issue of senior hunger.
The majority of the $100,000 will be presented as a charitable donation to MOWAAF. The remaining funds will be distributed in the form of Tesoro fuelCards that will be presented to representatives of local Meals On Wheels programs at Tesoro retail locations on June 23. These fuel cards can be used by the programs and their volunteers to purchase gasoline needed to make deliveries.
"We are happy to partner with Meals On Wheels for this worthwhile charitable cause and hope that our leadership will encourage other companies in our industry to help support the organization," said William J. Finnerty, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Tesoro. "Our goal is to fuel the organization's delivery cars and trucks and encourage volunteers to continue to provide the much-needed food to their recipients."
Tesoro Corp., a Fortune 200 company headquartered in San Antonio, is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Tesoro operates six refineries in the western United States with a combined rated crude oil capacity of more than 560,000 barrels per day. Tesoro's retail marketing system includes over 475 branded retail stations, of which over 200 are company operated under the Tesoro and Mirastar brands.
"Meals On Wheels can literally mean the difference between life and death for many frail elderly in this country. Poor nutrition clearly contributes to a number of serious and life-threatening chronic diseases. We view hunger itself as a disease, but one for which we have a cure," said Enid Borden, CEO of the Meals On Wheels Association of America Foundation. "We are thrilled that Tesoro is providing national leadership and setting an example for other corporations. Corporate affiliations like the one between MOWAAF and Tesoro are the prescription for wiping out the plague of hunger and provide our organization with the financial resources to help provide nutritious meals to those in need of them."
Local Meals On Wheels and other senior nutrition programs serve more than 1 million meals per day. But it is estimated that 2 million more meals are needed daily to meet the current need. The programs rely on volunteers to deliver meals, and in many cases the volunteers are senior citizens on fixed incomes. In recent months, some volunteers have reduced their participation or dropped out of the program entirely, resulting in cutbacks in meal deliveries to frail seniors in some areas of the country.
"If local meal programs are going to meet the nutritional needs of those individuals in the community who cannot provide meals for themselves, then these programs must have additional resources," said Borden. "Tesoro is not only committing to its own donation but also allowing other Americans to contribute by doing a simple thing -- purchasing gas at their local Tesoro or Mirastar locations. We are urging drivers to pull up to the pumps June 23-25. The more gas they purchase, the more seniors we can feed."
In addition to providing MOWAAF with all funds raised during the campaign period, with a minimum guaranteed amount of $100,000, Tesoro is also funding a public awareness campaign for MOWAAF to bring attention to the issue of senior hunger.
The majority of the $100,000 will be presented as a charitable donation to MOWAAF. The remaining funds will be distributed in the form of Tesoro fuelCards that will be presented to representatives of local Meals On Wheels programs at Tesoro retail locations on June 23. These fuel cards can be used by the programs and their volunteers to purchase gasoline needed to make deliveries.
"We are happy to partner with Meals On Wheels for this worthwhile charitable cause and hope that our leadership will encourage other companies in our industry to help support the organization," said William J. Finnerty, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Tesoro. "Our goal is to fuel the organization's delivery cars and trucks and encourage volunteers to continue to provide the much-needed food to their recipients."
Tesoro Corp., a Fortune 200 company headquartered in San Antonio, is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Tesoro operates six refineries in the western United States with a combined rated crude oil capacity of more than 560,000 barrels per day. Tesoro's retail marketing system includes over 475 branded retail stations, of which over 200 are company operated under the Tesoro and Mirastar brands.