Marathon Petroleum’s Anacortes refinery in Washington hosted a three-day giving campaign to raise money for a local homeless shelter. The refinery donated nearly $10,000 to the Anacortes Family Center. The event aligned with the Anacortes community-wide 8th Annual Dine Out and Shop event.

“Marathon is an integral part of our community and has been a generous and ongoing source of support for the Anacortes Family Center in our mission to support homeless households, especially those with children, with housing and services that help the families with becoming self-sufficient,” said Dustin Johnson, Executive Director of the Anacortes Family Center. “From individual employee giving, to generous grants, the impact from these donations has been profound.”

“From individual employee giving, to generous grants, the impact from these donations has been profound.”

The Anacortes Family Center said it has grown from a 9-apartment emergency shelter supporting roughly 40 families a year, to a full continuum of care campus for nearly 300 families annually. They now provide early outreach for at risk youth, emergency services for families fleeing domestic violence, and affordable housing for working families that want to live in the community where they work.

“We couldn’t appreciate more Marathon’s depth and breadth of support,” said Johnson. 

Co-ops at the Anacortes refinery also volunteer their time to help at the center. Sydney Juliussen in the Major Projects group at the refinery said she loves helping the children at the daycare when the parents have their weekly meetings.

“As the weather starts to warm up, the children become really excited about the playground, running around, and riding bikes,” said Juliussen. “I will continue to help the Anacortes Family Center until my co-op is over in May.”