Marathon Petroleum recently announced a donation of $50,000 to the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank.
The money came from Marathon’s “Catching for a Cause” fundraiser, a three-day fishing and networking event this summer that brought people from the oil industry to the Kenai Peninsula. The donation was given soon after the fundraiser, but a large novelty check was presented to the food bank earlier this month.
Jon Kruger is the turnaround lead for Marathon’s Kenai refinery. He helped organize the Catching for a Cause fundraiser.
“It’s kind of an advantage for both sides, where we can help out our community but also kind of learn about new technologies that are being developed in the Lower 48,” Kruger said.
The food bank partnered with Marathon for the event. It’s one of the food bank’s largest fundraisers of the year.
“It’s such a huge portion of the funds that we have for the year," said Kenai Peninsula Food Bank office manager Claire Jones. "Without these funds, I’m not even sure where we’d be.”
Jones says Marathon helps the food bank year-round, both in donations and volunteer hours. According to a press release, funds from Catching for a Cause will also go to Kenai Peninsula College’s Process Tech program, the Central Peninsula Hospital Foundation and the Alaska Vocation and Technical Education College’s Mariner program.