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Detroit Refinery Community Site

Celebrating 60 Years in our Community

Fueling Detroit: SW Farmers Market

On August 14th, the Detroit refinery’s Detroit Forward team hosted its second installment of the Kemeny Fueling Detroit series with the Southwest Detroit Farmers Market.  The event featured 36 local businesses from SW Detroit and the greater downriver area.  Over 200 residents attended the event, along with quite a few MRD employees stopping by to support local businesses.  Two 48217 restaurants (Two Fat Boys & a Grill and Catfish and a Cure) were featured, providing free catfish dinners and corned beef sandwiches to all that attended.  MRD employees hosted two tables at the event – one to teach residents about what goes on at the refinery, and another hosted by the women’s network to pass out free feminine hygiene products from the nonprofit, Helping Women Period.  We have two more events for this series — The Back to School Blitz (Saturday, September 11th) and the Health and Harvest Fair (Saturday, October 9th).  If you’re interested in either,  sign up here for more information!

Employee Giving Summit

The Detroit Forward team held a Nonprofit/Employee Giving Summit on August 24th.  This event was an extension of the monthly Detroit Forward: Nonprofit Spotlight.  Thirteen nonprofits were featured at the event, with MRD employees being able to talk to them one-on-one about the work that they’re doing in 48217.  The nonprofits that were featured were excited that how engaged the employees were and are excited to see how we can further partner on future projects! See below for a list of the featured organizations:

  • Covenant House Michigan
  • Matrix Human Services
  • Detroit Police Athletic League (Detroit PAL)
  • AmeriCorps Urban Safety Program
  • Friends of the Rouge
  • Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency
  • Brilliant Detroit
  • St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
  • Mercy Education Project
  • Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision
  • Bees in the D
  • Detroit Greenways Coalition
  • Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan

MRD employees were excited to sign up for volunteer opportunities and donate to these organizations (with a 100% from Marathon) to help their continued work in the SW Detroit community!

Fueling Detroit Event Series: Southwest Farmers Market

The Detroit refinery is excited to host a Southwest Detroit Farmers Market at Kemeny Recreation Center on August 14th (11 AM – 2 PM)! This will be the second event of our Fueling Detroit series, following our family movie night earlier this month on July 9th.  This event will feature free entertainment and giveaways at the door.  The first 100 guests will receive $20 in vouchers that they can use to purchase items at the market — the vendors featured will be selling baked goods, candy, apparel, household goods, health and wellness products, and much more!  The event will also feature free food from two local vendors in 48217: Fry For The Cure & 2 Fat Boys and a Grill.

If you’re interested in attending the farmers market, click this link to secure your spot!

If you’re interested in being a vendor (there is no fee), click this link to sign up!

Any questions about this event can be directed to BreAnna Lockhart at blockhart@marathonpetroleum.com.

Refinery Employees Host Community Clean-Up

I-75 Clean Up

The Detroit refinery and Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) have partnered to create a cleaner community for the residents around the refinery in a new project that kicked off this past April. Throughout the summer, refinery employees are volunteering every second and fourth Wednesday to clean up trash around the I-75 and Schaefer Highway interchange, as well as the surrounding areas. Additionally, volunteers plan to participate in a fence line clean-up in June and August to remove litter along the border of the refinery.

Motor City Makeover 2021

More than 30 Marathon Petroleum employees signed up to volunteer in District 6 for this year’s Motor City Makeover. Volunteers focused their efforts on promoting safe routes to the Mark Twain School for Scholars and a clean business corridor along Fort Street. Volunteers cleared trash from six lots (including two across the street from the school), cut down brush and trees along major walkways, and removed garbage from the Fort Street median. The cleaning was in response to requests by community members. The refinery looks forward to continuing the tradition of partnering with the city for this event for years to come!

 

 

Introducing Fueling Detroit Event Series at Kemeny Recreation Center

The Detroit refinery is excited to announce Fueling Detroit, a series of community events at the Kemeny Recreation Center. Programs will focus on bringing both family fun and needed resources to the community at monthly events from July to October. All events will include free food from local vendors, PPE at the door (while supplies last) and entertainment. The series begins on Friday, July 9 with a walk-up “drive-in” movie, featuring Spider-man: Into the Spider-Versse. Doors open at 8 PM, and the first 50 in-line will receive a free lawn chair for the event!

Looking for Local Vendors

The Detroit refinery is dedicated to supporting local vendors throughout the event series to help stimulate the local economy and provide a space to showcase small businesses. We’re seeking food trucks for each of our upcoming events and a variety of vendors (clothing, jewelry, fresh fruit/vegetables, etc.) for an upcoming community farmers market on August 14. Space at this event will be free for the vendor and will offer great exposure for local products and services. If you’re interested in participating as a vendor, email the refinery’s community relations representative BreAnna Lockhart at blockhart@marathonpetroleum.com.

Refinery’s Wildlife Habitat Team at Work in the Marathon Sustainability Garden

This spring, members of the Detroit refinery’s Wildlife Habitat Team are showing off their green thumb’s in the Marathon Sustainability Garden.

“Thursday in the Garden” is an opportunity for volunteers to weed and plant in the award winning garden. Most recently, the gardeners weeded and planted more than 50 new flowers, including both perennials and annual favorites like sunflowers, monarda, zinnias, black eyed Susan’s and a special “pollinator mix.”

The Marathon Sustainability Garden was recently presented with Gold Certification by the Wildlife Habitat Council.