For the past four years, employees at the Valero Albert City Ethanol Plant in Iowa have been providing sweet treats for participants of Golf to X Out Fragile X, a popular annual summer fundraising event organized by the National Fragile X Foundation, Heartland Chapter – Iowa and South Dakota, held in Pocahontas, Iowa.
This year, two Valero employees—Kelly Davey and Travis DeLance—decided to take that support a step further and nominated the Heartland Chapter for a grant to benefit children in the Albert City area.
As it turns out, Heartland Chapter Co-Leader Brenda Slama had previously been instrumental in advocating for a sensory room at her son’s elementary school in Pocahontas. The sensory room supported not only her son Gus, who has Fragile X syndrome, but all special needs children. So, Brenda decided to submit the idea of a sensory room for other local area children’s schools and organizations.
Valero loved the idea and awarded the Heartland Chapter with a $6,200 grant during the 2019 Valero Texas Open Benefit for Children.
Brenda will be contacting schools in the area to create a sensory room wish list, and the Heartland Chapter will then make the necessary purchases—up to $1,000 per school—to create additional sensory rooms to benefit all area children.
Valero, its employees, and charitable organizations generated more than $55 million for worthy charities and causes through direct donations and fundraisers in 2018. Valero Energy Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Valero Energy Corporation, provides funding to a variety of nonprofit agencies for programs and services supporting education, basic human needs, healthcare, and civic projects.
National Fragile X Foundation Community Support Network
The bedrock of the NFXF community is our Community Support Network. CSN is our mission delivery arm and is comprised of volunteer-led chapters, community partners, and parent contacts.