Fifteen organizations will drive environmental improvements across the Gulf Coast and Illinois, restoring wetlands, rebuilding oyster reefs, and putting thousands of volunteers in the field this year

HOUSTON, Aug. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A beach cleanup that draws 2,500 volunteers to a stretch of Padre Island only reachable by 4-wheel drive. A prairie restoration in Illinois working to bring back a federally endangered dragonfly. An oyster shell recycling program rebuilding reefs one restaurant's leftovers at a time. This year, CITGO Petroleum Corporation is backing all of these projects and more, awarding $620,000 to fifteen nonprofits through its Caring For Our Coast (CFOC) environmental improvement initiative.

The grants stretch across the Gulf Coast and into Illinois, funding work ranging from habitat restoration and water quality monitoring to hands-on environmental education for students who might not otherwise have access. Since 2014, CITGO has awarded more than $9.8MM through the program, helping fund more than 19,767 acres of habitat restoration and 290,790 volunteer hours across the Gulf Coast and Illinois.

"Fifteen organizations, one goal: leave the Gulf Coast and our Illinois communities healthier than we found them," said Kresha Sivinski, CITGO Vice President Human Resources and Support Services. "These grants don't just fund a single cleanup or planting day. They build the people and the programs that keep showing up year after year, and that's what turns one good project into a sustainable one."

2026 Caring for Our Coast Grant Recipients

• Artist Boat, Inc. — Houston — $80,000
  • Restores endangered coastal prairie on Galveston Island's Coastal Heritage Preserve, continuing a 17-year effort across a 1,243-acre stretch of barrier island.
• Buffalo Bayou Partnership — Houston — $20,000
  • Removes trash and debris from Buffalo Bayou through its Waterway Maintenance Program, pulling roughly 2,200 cubic yards in 2025 alone before it could reach Galveston Bay.
• The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana — Lake Charles — $20,000
  • Plants native oaks along the Chenier, trains the next generation of coastal advocates through its Leadership Institute, and helped launch the region's first SWLA Coastal Summit.
• Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program — Corpus Christi — $30,000
  • Volunteers clean up Packery Flats and a bird rookery island while new restoration work begins to remove invasive species across the 2,232-acre Costa Grande Ranch.
• Coastal Bend Bays Foundation — Corpus Christi — $25,000
  • Runs four community programs, from the family-friendly Earth Day Bay Day festival to an Environmental Awards Banquet honoring regional stewardship.
• Friends of Padre, Inc. — Corpus Christi — $15,000
  • Backs the Billy Sandifer Big Shell Beach Cleanup, the world's largest single-day beach cleanup, on a remote stretch of Padre Island only accessible by 4-wheel drive.
• Friends of The Forest Preserve District of Will County — Lemont, Ill. — $40,000
  • Restores 127.3 acres of globally rare dolomite prairie at Romeoville Prairie Nature Preserve, home to the federally endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly, near the CITGO Lemont Refinery.
• Galveston Bay Foundation — Houston — $65,000
  • Runs Marsh Mania, where volunteers plant native marsh grass and return recycled oyster shells to the bay, alongside its Dolphin Research and Outreach Station.
• Houston Audubon — Houston — $40,000
  • Restores critical bird habitat on the Bolivar Peninsula while bringing nature access to underserved neighborhoods in Gulfton and Third Ward.
• Houston Parks Board — Houston — $30,000
  • Expanding two "Bat Prairies" along White Oak Bayou and Sims Bayou, home to bat populations that provide natural pest control for the surrounding area.
• National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) — Gulf Coast (Lake Charles and Corpus Christi) — $50,000
  • Helps communities build resilience to storms and flooding through green space restoration and training for park professionals across the region.
• Tampa Bay Watch — Florida — $50,000
  • Gets students from Title I schools out on the water for hands-on marine science, from field trips to building oyster gardens.
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Harte Research Institute — Corpus Christi — $50,000
  • Collects oyster shell from restaurants across the Coastal Bend through its Sink Your Shucks™ program and returns it to the water to rebuild reefs within 12 to 18 months.
• The Conservation Foundation — Lemont, Ill. — $30,000
  • Clears dead-fall at the 70-acre O'Hara Woods Nature Preserve to enable prescribed burns, alongside student programs and public volunteer workdays.
• The Wilder World Trust, NFP — Lemont, Ill. — $75,000
  • Restores shoreline and quarry lake habitat at the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area through invasive species removal and native replanting..

About CITGO

CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a recognized leader in the refining industry and operates under the well-known CITGO brand. CITGO owns and operates three refineries located in Lake Charles, La.; Lemont, Ill.; and Corpus Christi, Texas, and wholly and/or jointly owns 43 active terminals, eight pipelines and three lubricants blending and packaging plants. With approximately 3,300 employees and a combined crude capacity of approximately 829,000 barrels-per-day (bpd), CITGO ranks as the fifth largest and is one of the most complex independent refiners in the United States. CITGO transports and markets transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products, and supplies a network of approximately 4,000 locally owned and independently operated branded retail outlets. CITGO Petroleum Corporation is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc.

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SOURCE CITGO Petroleum Corporation