Featured Photo: The YouthWorks program involves teenagers in courses on pre-employment and life skills, such as budgeting and resume writing, as well as projects to revitalize and beautify neighborhoods
NeighborWorks® Salt Lake (NWSL) has seen teenagers who go through its programs eventually start their own businesses or become the first in their families to graduate from college. The non-profit organization received a $50,000 grant from Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) to help expand this success through initiatives focusing on low-income neighborhoods near MPC’s refinery on Salt Lake City’s west side.
A large part of MPC’s grant supports NWSL’s YouthWorks program. It assists teenagers struggling academically and socially by providing weekly classes on life skills to help them enter the workforce, such as budgeting, goal setting, resume writing and building healthy relationships. The remainder of MPC’s funds sponsored NWSL’s 2022 Paint Your Heart Out and Rake Your Heart Out initiatives, which involve hundreds of volunteers who paint and clean up residences of homeowners who are not physically or financially able to maintain them. For several years, employees from MPC’s refinery have participated in Paint Your Heart Out, painting houses in neighborhoods around the facility.
Creating a new learning path for low-income students in Salt Lake City
Marathon Petroleum is helping to bring a new dimension in science education to a non-profit charter school that serves low-income families in Salt Lake City. A $20,000 grant is supporting the construction of the Guadalupe School’s outdoor classroom, which will provide hands-on experiences with nature not previously available at the school, including exploring water features that teach scientific principles.
Earlier this year, a groundbreaking ceremony launched the construction of the 12,000-square-foot instructional space, designed to create learning opportunities that support a more robust science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum. The school includes kindergarten through sixth grade and offers preschool and adult education programs. Low-income households account for 95% of the students on the campus near Marathon’s Salt Lake City refinery.
This rendering depicts the future outdoor classroom at the Guadalupe School where Marathon Petroleum is providing a water instruction section to teach students about the concepts of flow, force and cause-and-effect.
Making dental care accessible to underserved youth
Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) is connecting underserved youth who live near its Salt Lake City refinery with dental care they may not be likely to receive otherwise. MPC gave a $50,000 grant to the Roseman University College of Dental Medicine to fund two events in 2022 where children and teens 18 and younger from qualifying low-income households received free dental screenings and cleanings. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 20% of children between five and 11 years of age have at least one untreated, decayed tooth, and children from low-income families are twice as likely to have cavities as children from higher-income households.
Marathon Petroleum’s grant provided free dental screenings and cleanings to youth 18 and younger from qualifying low-income households.
Grant establishes tuition gap funding program to aid Native American students
A $100,000 grant to the Uintah Basin Technical College (UBTech) Foundation from Marathon Petroleum’s Salt Lake City refinery is helping students overcome financial obstacles to completing their education, especially students in the tribal community in Utah.
The UBTech Foundation works with Utah students to cover the cost of tuition, books and fees. This allows students the freedom to concentrate on finishing their training in welding, electrical technician, construction technology, heavy-duty diesel, automation technician, civil drafting technician and energy services. The Ute Tribe subsidizes tuition and fees for many Native American students but does not cover costs for all Native American students. Marathon’s grant helped establish the Marathon Petroleum Tuition Gap Funding Program, which will help many additional students continue their education.
A tuition gap funding program established by Marathon Petroleum will help many students at UBTech overcome financial obstacles to completing their education.
