TUXEDO, N.Y. -- CITGO marketer Robert Spiegel believes in giving back to his local community and in the great power of family. These personal beliefs combined with his family's expertise in the petroleum industry led Spiegel of M. Spiegel & Sons Oil, Tuxedo, N.Y., to create Charity Oil, a nonprofit organization that provides quality heating oil at an affordable price and donates to charities selected by the customer.
The inspiration for Charity Oil grew out of tragedy. The Spiegel family lost Robert's sister Jodi Spiegel Fisher to breast cancer in 2004. During her battle with the illness, Robert became an avid runner to help cope with his sister's ailing health. While on a trail run, he came up with the idea to create a separate entity in honor of his sister that would be dedicated to fostering nonprofit relationships.
"The name 'Charity Oil' came to me instantly. I needed to make something positive happen after so many friends and neighbors helped my family through the loss of a loved one," said Spiegel. "The idea is that we partner with like-minded fuel companies such as CITGO and other distributors who deliver fuel and heating oil to customers at a discount to help support charitable work in their local communities."
To accomplish its mission of helping others, Charity Oil currently partners with Mack Services Group and RF Ohl in Pennsylvania and SOS Xtreme Comfort in New York, but plans to expand its distributor base to 15 in the future. These distributor partners use their existing distribution channels and their heating oil customers decide which of the Charity Oil nonprofits will receive their five-cents-per-gallon donation. During the month of October, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was the sole beneficiary of these donations in honor of Spiegel's sister and in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"I was searching for an idea bigger than just one person or one company. Every gallon of oil sold helps raise money for organizations such as MDA to benefit muscular dystrophy treatment, care, and research, as well as other charities that assist with infant health and cancer awareness," said Spiegel. "Spread the word, fill your tank and smile; it's contagious."
CITGO is committed to giving back to the local communities it serves through its network of locally owned CITGO locations. Independent CITGO marketers own and operate more than 600 CITGO locations in New York and Pennsylvania.
CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
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