By Tom Davis
Oakville, Ontario — December 15, 2017 —A wide cross-section of the collision repair industry gathered at Budds’ Collision Services on Friday for the repair centre’s annual Pig Roast and Christmas Party.
In the spirit of Christmas, the event invited all those attending to donate a toy for children in need, as well as donations for the Sam Piercey Foundation.
After officially launching in 2016, the foundation serves to support young apprentices in the collision repair industry. The foundation is in honour of the late Sam Piercey, Co-Owner of Budds’ and a long-time columnist for Collision Repair magazine.
“This event first started off as a toy drive, but last year we officially launched the Sam Piercey Foundation,” explained Sam Piercey Jr. “Dad was eager to attract young and talented people into the industry and that’s what we are trying to keep up with this event.”
The yearly event, held at Budds’ Collision in Oakville, Ontario, is always well attended by all groups of the automotive aftermarket industry. This year was no different as repairers, insurers and suppliers were all well represented, attending from within the local area and beyond.
Food, drink and entertainment were at the forefront of the event, including the presentation of a TESLA vehicle as well as live bagpipe music.
J.R Martino, Manager of Budds’ Collision Services, spoke at the event, thanking his staff, as well as vendors PPG and FinishMaster. He thanked the Piercey family and welcomed all donations to the foundation.
“Supporting the foundation is great, and I fully recommend that you donate, but Sam’s real legacy was about getting people interested in collision repair as a career. I advise shop owners to get a young person into their shop and teach them the different aspects of the collision repair industry,” said Martino.
“This is an initiative, not just to keep Sam’s memory alive, but to get people excited about collision repair,” Martino told Collision Repairmagazine. “Working with schools and getting young students interested in collision repair is a huge part of that. An event like this offers a perfect opportunity for students to showcase the shop to their colleagues and that helps to get more people interested in this industry as a career.”
All of the donations to the foundation are handed to the Oakville Community Fund, which handles the money. The money is then passed on to Skills Canada in a bid to encourage young people into the collision repair industry. Bing Wong, of Canadian Hail Repair, directs the activities of the foundation. “We have some exciting developments coming up for the foundation in terms of regional events in both Ontario and Alberta,” said Wong.
Keep reading Collision Repair magazine for a full tally of donations made to the foundation. In the mean time, please check out our photo gallery below!
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