Will provide emergency relief to collision repair professionals affected by the storm.
The Collision Industry Foundation (CIF) announced it is committed to working with all industry segments to deliver aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey. The CIF’s mission is to deliver emergency relief directly to collision repair professionals. CIF is calling on all shops, trade groups, equipment companies, paint companies, insurance companies and all other industry organizations who can assist in this relief effort.
Technicians who received assistance from the Collision Industry Foundation after Hurricane Katrina in 2006.
CIF is using all donations for emergency living and/or tool replacement expenses.
Donations can be made via the CIF website and no donation amount is too small. Or contact them directly via Email: collisionindustryfoundation@gmail.com or Phone at Toll Free (855) 424- 3243 – Direct (804) 427-6982.
The CIF Board of Trustees has assembled a committee that will organize and facilitate the relief efforts. Michael Quinn has been appointed chair of this committee.
“Michael led the industry’s relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, as well as chaired other industry-wide charitable projects like Recycled Rides and the First Responder Emergency Extrication programs,” says Kelly Broderick, CIF Vice Chair and Vice President of Sales & Marketing with Dedoes Industries LLC. “We couldn’t have selected a better person to lead the Harvey efforts.”
Within the last 48 hours donations have started coming in from shops, individuals and companies including: CCC Information Services, Mitchell International and Parts Trader. We encourage others within the industry to support our efforts and donate.
“We encourage all industry professionals to reach deep and make tax deductible donations to CIF so we can help those in need,” stated William Shaw, CIF chair and Director of Business Development US & Canada, PPG Automotive Refinish. “Please join us in sending our thoughts and prayers to those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. It’s time to roll up our collective sleeves and help our brothers and sisters in Texas and Louisiana.”
Let’s make a Grand Gesture
A Challenge to the Collision Industry
There cannot be anyone left in America that, by now, has not seen the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. Ironically, I am sitting exactly where I was 12 years ago when Katrina hit and we started Katrina Relief. I remember the tears and the families we helped from our industry then. Today, Harvey’s devastation is two to three times what it was during Katrina.
For us to sit back as a caring industry and do nothing is not what we are about. After Katrina, with the generosity of the industry, working through the Collision Industry Foundation, we provided gift cards from Walmart, helped with relocation expenses to other towns if needed, paid to get families back together since many were evacuated to shelters in different cities, provided tools so technicians could go to work again, and, in the end, tried to help those from our industry begin the process of helping themselves back from the depths of despair that comes with losing everything.
The Collision Industry Foundation has once again stepped up to do the right thing for those in our industry needing our help. And so, it is because of their effort and the work that is so desperately needed today, that I am reaching out to all of you, as individuals in our industry, to join with me in making a really Grand Gesture to help our fellow collision repairers. We, as an industry, stood tall and helped our own after Katrina. And through the Collision Industry Foundation (CIF) and this Grand Gesture effort, we will do that again for even more.
Today, I have made my personal donation of $1,000. to the Collision Industry Foundation knowing that, as with Katrina, ALL of these funds will be used specifically to help the technicians and their families who have been wiped out of everything except perhaps the wet clothes on their back.
Imagine seeing everything you worked your whole life for now covered in water, ruined. The treasures and the memories are now all gone. But life needs to begin again however with nothing except the skills you know and the desire to care for your family how does one do that without a place to work or the tools to even do that work?
I know businesses big and small will be making donations, and well they should, but I am specifically asking…, no, challenging, each and every one of you as individuals who have made your living in this industry, to join with me in making this Grand Scheme a reality. For some, this may be a reach and seem a bit too much, but I ask you to just think about this, what would you hope that others might do if the roles were reversed for you or anyone in your family? If you own a business, then give twice, first as a business and then as an individual that has benefited from this industry. This is a very small price to pay for those who have been trapped by a disaster not of their making.
I am not asking for this because you know me or don’t know me. It matters not whether we are friends or not, it is simply a case of doing the right thing for the right reason. Right now, people in this industry need our help. Will you please join with me to make a difference for their family?
To make your donation, please go to http://www.collisionindustryrelief.org
On their behalf, thank you.
Chuck Sulkala