Marathon Petroleum : Garyville employees aid pandemic recovery in Louisiana

The vaccination event took place at the New Wine Christian Fellowship church near the Garyville refinery.

The Garyville refinery is helping residents of the area surrounding the facility to move beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost two dozen employees volunteered at a recent mass vaccination event where representatives of the Louisiana Department of Health and the Louisiana National Guard immunized 200 residents of St. John the Baptist Parish.

'It was one of our first events back in the community since the pandemic began and was really important because of the pandemic's impact here,' said the refinery's Corporate Social Responsibility Representative Iman Montgomery. 'Just a year ago, news reports indicated St. John the Baptist Parish had the highest death rate of COVID-19 per capita and one of the highest rates of positive cases in the country.'

Aside from providing employee volunteers for the event, the Garyville refinery donated $10,000 to the local church where the vaccinations were administered. These funds helped purchase gift cards, meals and other items that served as incentives for local residents to be vaccinated.

In recent months, the refinery has also been addressing employee demand for vaccines. The facility's health services team obtained doses for all employees who expressed interest in being vaccinated.