“This is the event I look most forward to every year,” Don Wilson, the vice president and general manager of Valero Benicia Refinery, remarked at the company’s Sponsor Recognition and Charity Grants event, held at the Benicia Veterans Memorial Hall Wednesday morning.

Wilson had a good reason to be spirited. The refinery was honoring 26 charities with grants that collectively totaled $300,000. The funds were raised through the 2016 Valero Texas Open and Benefit for Children Golf Classic, which was held last April near the company’s headquarters in San Antonio.

“This year, we raised a record $10.5 million for children’s charities across the nation,” Wilson said. “With this year’s outstanding result, Valero has now raised more than $111 million, specifically for children, since becoming the sponsor of the Valero Texas Open in 2002.”

The dollars raised through these golf tournaments are distributed to locations where Valero has operations. Afterwards, local employees then nominate nonprofit charities for possible grants. These grants were then presented at the awards ceremony by Public Affairs Manager Sue Fisher Jones.

The invitation-only event had a strong attendance record, including city officials like Vice Mayor Mark Hughes, Councilmember Christina Strawbridge, City Council candidate Lionel Largaespada, Board of Supervisors candidate and former City Councilmember Mike Ioakimedes and Benicia Unified School District Superintendent Charles Young. Breakfast was provided by Nine O Seven Grill, and there was even a surprise musical performance by VOENA, one of the recipients.

The 26 honored recipients include:

*Bay Area Crisis Nursery (Awarded $15,000): A Concord-based organization aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect by providing supportive services to families who are in stress or crisis. The services offered are free, confidential and voluntary.

*Benicia Ballet Theatre, which received a $10,000 grant to assist students from economically disadvantaged families by providing scholarships and promoting outreach programs to underrepresented communities.

*Benicia Community Action Council ($25,000): A one-stop center for family support which provides resources and services, including the opportunity to attend summer camp, to children in low-income families.

*Benicia Education Foundation, which received a $20,000 grant to support BUSD’s college and career planning initiative and ensure that students have a path to succeed in life.

*Benicia Historical Museum, which received a $10,000 grant to support the museum’s education programs, including the docent-led activities as well as the Traveling Trunks Exhibit Program which brings the museum to the classroom.

*Benicia Little League, which received a $10,000 grant to provide scholarships and field safety upgrades for the players in the league’s Challenger Division.

*Boys and Girls Club of El Sobrante ($15,000): A club which offers after school and weekend enrichment programs to help children thrive in school and beyond.

*Boys and Girls Club of Napa Valley ($15,000): A club that serves youth in Napa and American Canyon. This grant will benefit the Academy of Robotics and Engineering.

*Camp Okizu ($10,000): The Okizu Foundation is a Novato-based nonprofit organization aimed at providing cancer-stricken youth an opportunity to experience summer camp with their siblings and parents. Funds from the grant will be put toward the Family Camp Program, a weekend experience where families can take a vacation from cancer.

*Camp Taylor ($10,000): A Salida-based organization which operates free summer camps for children with heart disease. Complete, professional medical supervision is provided, which allows special-needs children to participate in a wide range of traditional camp activities.

*Child Abuse Prevention Council of Contra Costa County ($10,000): A Concord-based organization aimed at preventing child abuse. The grant will support the Nurturing Parent program.

*Child Haven ($10,000): A Fairfield-based nonprofit which provides intensive therapeutic mental health and developmental services for children and their families.

*Child Start ($10,000): A Napa-based organization which supports children ages birth to 5 in economically disadvantaged families in Napa and Solano counties. This grant will support Solano County’s Raising a Reader program.

*Court Appointed Children’s Advocates of Solano ($15,000): A nonprofit organization which advocates for abused, neglected and other identified children within the court system with he belief that all children are entitled to safe, stable homes.

*Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ($5,000): The grant will support research and medical treatments for children in the Bay Area.

*Friends of Loma Vista Farm ($10,000): Loma Vista Farm is a 5-acre outdoor classroom in Vallejo that needs improvements and upgrades for its hands-on educational activities involving plants and animals for children of all ages and abilities. Funds from the grants will go toward projects that support the education programs and facilities.

*Horseplay Therapeutic Riding Center ($7,500): A Dixon-based organization that offers year-round therapeutic recreational horseback-riding programs for special needs children. The grant will provide scholarships for lower-income mentally, physically and emotionally disabled children.

*Reynaissance Family Center ($10,000): A residential center in Vallejo which serves families and children in transition, including parents and children who are displaced due to domestic violence.

*SafeQuest Solano ($10,000): A Fairfield-based multi-service nonprofit which provides education, advocacy, community training and intervention services for those affected by domestic violence and sexual assault.

*Vacaville Neighborhood Boys and Girls Club ($15,000): An organization which strives to empower all youth. The grant will help fund the Power Hour program to drive its members’ academic success.

*VOENA ($10,000): A Benicia-based children’s choral group led by Annabelle Marie. The grant will allow children from economically challenged families to have the opportunity to participate in the group through scholarships.