#GivingTuesday

August 2019: two collision repairers, Andre and Jordan A, ,lost their lives during the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, while protecting their youngest son's life. Leaving him and 2 other young children behind. CIF introduced a “Campaign of Caring,” that successfully inspired the industry to raise money for the children's fund. 

Said daughter Deborah: “The show of support for my father and our immediate family has been remarkable and will not be forgotten. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated”. 

2020: As COVID-19 began spreading across our nation in March - resulting in financial impact to businesses and individuals - the CIF Board of Trustees sprang into action and created a special fund to provide assistance for those directly affected by the Coronavirus crisis. Beginning in late March and throughout all of May into June and July, CIF received more than 600 applications for assistance coming from 41 US states. The majority of which met the CIF established criteria and were funded. 

Dalton Collision, TN. Jerry Dalton - President: "I first learned about CIF last year and I was impressed with with way CIF helped body shop employees at the time when they were dealing with wildfires. When my business slowed down significantly, I reached out to CIF for assistance. When my employees received the checks from CIF, I was reminded of winning the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes. It was awesome. It sure helped out our employees. They were really appreciative."

Fix Auto Portland East and Fix Auto Gladstone, OR. Camille Eber - Co-Owner: "I learned about CIF's COVID assistance from CRASH NETWORK. We wanted to show our employees that our industry is a giving one. What CIF did was above anything I would have imagined. All business owners know the challenges of managing our businesses, so managing a non-profit like CIF by volunteers generous with their time, and supported by donors generous with their money, is nothing short of remarkable." "Organizations such as CIF can be a safety net to a few or many - any filled need is better than none. I want to send an enormous thank you to each person who has touched CIF over the years, including those responsible for the original idea, those giving of themselves to operate it, and the many folks who have sent funds in the past and during these tremendously gut-tighteningly hard times". 

Fuller Automotive Companies, MA. Joshua Fuller – Bodyshop Manager  - "I was impressed by how they were able to come in and help so many of our stakeholders beyond what we could do. Every little bit helps. We were were fortunate to take advantage of it and so are our people. It's definitively a welcome contribution. 

Carl's Collision Center, MA. Carl Garcia - Owner- CIF has provided financial assistance to about a half-dozen of our laid-off employees. It was great to be able to offer this option to employees. It was actually amazing how quickly the Foundation was able to process it and get them the money. It went to people who really needed it. I remember the Foundation over the years raising funds to help individuals in the industry facing challenges because of Hurricane Katrina, the 2018 wildfires in California, and major flooding in 2016 in Missouri and West Virginia. To have my own staff be the recipient of that same type of support, I don’t think I’ll ever forget,” 

Fred Martin Collision Center, OH. Tammy Horvat - Manager: CIF provided assistance to four of our shop’s technicians laid off because of the pandemic. This money helped put food on their table, helped pay rent or mortgages or utility bills, the basic necessities that are needed when you are impacted financially after suddenly being laid off. To have an organization that steps up and helps our collision repair professionals during times of hardship and crisis is another reason I admire our collision community"

Here is what some of our CIF donors have to say

Joseph Allen, General Manager , Senior Vice President, Automotive Services Group CCC: During our most challenging times, the Collision Industry Foundation has been a constant source of leadership for our industry.  We are proud to support CIF as it continues its work mobilizing the broader community and delivering relief to our industry.” 

Alex Dalyac, CEO and co-founder at Tractable, shared why he chose CIF for this donation. “At Tractable, our mission is to accelerate accident and disaster recovery across the world, with AI. But the world has been severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic. As a company, we feel we have the duty to do something to help those in need within our industry. Automotive repair professionals and their families are being affected, experiencing medical and financial difficulties.”

NCS/Single Source CEO John Leavy noted, “We have tremendous respect for the work that the Collision Industry Foundation (CIF) is doing in support of collision repair professionals across the country and we are proud to support the overall efforts of CIF.”