• In late 2022, leaders from Marathon Petroleum’s Los Angeles refinery presented the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor (BGCLAH) with a check for $175,000 to support the program’s newest club on the campus of Wilmington Park Elementary School.
• Marathon’s portion of the funding is helping to secure needed equipment and resources to launch the year-round program.
• Additionally, Assemblymember Mike Gipson from District 65 presented the BGCLAH with an additional $1 million to help support safety upgrades at the school, as well as purchase new buses and other assistance.

The Wilmington Park Boys & Girls Club, located on the Wilmington Park Elementary School campus, is home to the newest after-school program in the area. In 2022, Marathon presented club leaders with a check for $175,000 to help launch the new location, one of 23 sites operated by the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor (BGCLAH). Before the site was dedicated as a Boys & Girls Club, BGCLAH was serving about 75 youth daily at other area locations. Today, that number has doubled.

“We are overjoyed this space is now an option for the Wilmington community,” said Sergio Carrillo, BGCLAH Board President. “It’s something we’ve been waiting for a very long time.”

In addition to Marathon’s gift, Assemblymember Mike Gipson from District 65, presented BGCLAH with another check in the amount of $1 million to support and develop the much-anticipated afterschool program. The BGCLAH launched its “A Safer Wilmington” initiative in 2022 following a drive-by shooting that occurred outside of the school, which is about a mile from Marathon’s Los Angeles refinery.

"This initiative and partnership with the BGCLAH is going to change lives here.”

“Our top priority is and will always be the safety and well-being of our students,” said the school’s principal Luis Rivera. “This initiative and partnership with the BGCLAH is going to change lives here, so from the bottom of my heart—I want to say thank you to everyone involved who helped make this possible.”

On top of helping to fund the year-round program, the collective investment will also support safety upgrades at the school, the purchase of new buses to safely transport students, funding to pay for the drivers, and vehicle maintenance. Program leaders launched a Friday Food Market in April to provide families in need with food assistance and other needs.  

“For a community to thrive, it must be a safe place for people to live, work and play,” said Luis Martinez, Environmental, Safety & Security Manager at the Los Angeles refinery, who attended the club’s official dedication. “At Marathon we are proud to support this expansion, and we look forward to our continued partnership centered on promoting safety and helping make people's lives better.”