Volunteers Tackle 11 Community Projects In Region

The 13th annual LyondellBasell Global Care Day is a worldwide community service initiative involving 3,500 employee volunteers -- 750 in Houston area -- participating in 69 projects in 61 communities in 20 countries where the company operates.

115 volunteers will help clean Houston East End’s Historic African-American Dawson Lunnon Cemetery by removing underbrush, planting native shrubs and flowers, cleaning waterways and mulching a path through the 100-year-old cemetery, which holds the remains of early East End residents and WWI veterans. The cleanup in partnership with the East End Management District is an important part in restoration.

Mayor Pro Temp Ed Gonzalez is expected to join 190 volunteers at Houston’s Metropolitan Multi-Service Center to proclaim Global Care Day in Houston.Volunteers will create care packages for soldiers and a wall mural, plant trees, expand the wheelchair-accessible garden and paint and upgrade the kitchen, library and classrooms. The River Performing Arts and Visual Center will hold a children’s performance at 11 a.m.

80 volunteers will join Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell in Memorial Park to paint a large gazebo, plant bushes, and mulch and install barbecue pits near the picnic area. Volunteers in boats will clean trash from Vince Bayou as part of this partnership with the city’s Pasadena Industrial Network Program.

WHEN

Saturday, April 14, 2012; 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Best photo op time 9-10:30 a.m. for most projects

WHO

750 total volunteers from LyondellBasell employees, family members and friends; and volunteers and staff from organizations being helped by 11 projects in greater Houston.

WHERE

Dawson Lunnon Cemetery - 3211 Harrisburg Blvd. Houston 77003 

Metropolitan Multi-Service Center - 1475 West Gray Houston 77019

Memorial Park/Vince Bayou – Memorial Park Drive, Pasadena 77501

Other Houston-area sites - see attached list

PHOTO/INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES -- BEST TIME:

9-10:30 a.m. for most projects; 8 a.m. Houston presents Global Care Day City Proclamation; 9:30 a.m.Pasadena Mayor Isbell; 11 a.m. children’s performance

All Greater Houston Area Projects

• Channelview’s Harvey Brown Elementary Outdoor Science Learning: 50+ LyondellBasell Channelview Complex volunteers along with teachers, students and parents will build an outdoor science learning center including a butterfly, vegetable and fruit gardens, benches for an outdoor classroom and several fruit trees. Students will help create stepping stones for the garden featuring mosaic glass. 
• Channelview, Sheldon and Galena Park ISDs Art Contest: Students from the school districts will participate in an art contest held by the LyondellBasell Channelview Complex. Winners of the contest, judged by 15 volunteers, will have their artwork displayed around the facility as murals, banners and posters. 
• Channelview Adopt-A-County-Road Project: 20+ volunteers from the LyondellBasell Channelview Complex will help clean Wallisville and Sheldon roads of trash and debris while adopting the roads for future cleaning throughout the year.  
• El Lago’s Ed White Elementary (CCISD): 100 volunteers from LyondellBasell’s Bayport Complex, students, teachers, principal and the PTA will restore the front entrance to be more attractive for students and families, revitalize the environmental habitat, paint, complete a partially built greenhouse and install a picnic table.
• Houston’s Clear Lake Intermediate Eagle Garden: 60+ volunteers from LyondellBasell’s Bayport Complex will work with the school to build the Eagle Garden for classes as well as a community gathering area. They will design and build walkways and planting beds that are wheelchair accessible and use native plants in order to create the most efficient and productive garden.
• Houston’s East End Historic African-American Dawson Lunnon Cemetery:115 volunteers are partnering with the East End Management District to care for this historic cemetery which holds the remains of early East End residents and WWI veterans. The cemetery sits next to the ruins of Mt. Gilead Church and school in a century-old neighborhood and adjacent to Country Club Bayou, a tributary of Brays Bayou and a natural home for several species of turtles & birds. The cleanup is an important part of restoring this historic cemetery and maintaining the waterways.
• Houston’s Midtown Metropolitan Multi-Service Center: 190 LyondellBasell volunteers will partner with veterans and city volunteers to paint and upgrade the staff kitchen, library and classrooms and work with Trees for Houston to plant trees near a ball field. Also, volunteers will create care packages for deployed soldiers, perform general maintenance and create a wall mural. The site primarily serves disabled veterans and special needs children, but also houses several nonprofits including The River Performing Arts and Visual Center who will hold a performance by children with special needs for all volunteers and visitors. Representatives of veterans organizations will attend.
• La Porte Junior High (La Porte ISD) Garden: 60+ La Porte Complex volunteers will build 12 container gardens, landscape, construct a three-bin turning-unit compost bin and install a rain-barrel collection system. This project will teach students how to cultivate and grow plants for food in an environmentally friendly manner by using potential waste to fertilize plants and learning how to test water quality of rain water.
• Mont Belvieu City Park tree planting: 25+ volunteers from LyondellBasell’s Equistar pipeline will plant trees, bushes and flowers along walking paths that wind through the park.
• Pasadena’s Memorial Park/Vince Bayou Environmental Cleanup: Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell is expected to join 80 volunteers from LyondellBasell’s Houston Refinery to paint a large gazebo, plant bushes, mulch and install a French drain and barbecue pits near the picnic area. Volunteers in boats will clean trash from the bayou as part of this partnership with the city’s Pasadena Industrial Network Program.
• Shoreacres city entrance and parks: 45 LyondellBasell Bayport Complex volunteers will give a welcoming face-lift to the city of Shoreacres entrance by cleaning and refurbishing the city entrance sign, and mulching, planting new flowers and feeding existing plants. The group also will pressure wash and paint the gazebo at the city’s Circle Park, pressure-wash and paint the restrooms, as well as add soil, mulch and fertilizer to the landscaping. Shell Beach will receive a water fountain, and City Hall will receive a walkway over a ditch to its park, benches and tables will be pressure-washed and painted, and the flag pole will be enhanced with weeding, plants and mulching.

Media Contacts:  
Gayden.Cooper@LyondellBasell.com; 713-209-1341; cell 713-822-3724
Scott.Buchman@LyondellBasell.com; 281-862-4485; cell 281-660-6856