Toronto, Ontario — June 30, 2014 — CARSTAR has committed to donating a car to AYCE employment services to be used to help facilitate the program’s employment outreach initiatives catered to helping youth find their career paths.
“I quickly identified with the need to get more people involved, and we’re in the perfect position to give back,” says Collin Welsh, Regional Development Manager, GTA & Eastern Ontario.
The vehicle donation will be used by AYCE to pick up supplies and additionally transport potential young technicians to job interviews and training programs to help them expand their skillsets. Welsh says it’s important to show these young kids in the program early on that they’re being taken care of.
“I think it’s important to show them the variety of work opportunities available to them that they can get excited about,” he says, noting the various speaking engagements and tours CARSTAR delivers to aspiring collision repair professionals. “If we can pump more young blood into the industry, then we’re all better off for it.”
Welsh says CARSTAR has worked closely with Tremblay and AYCE in other capacities in the recent past, encouraging the company’s own partners such as Audatex and Mitchell to donate up-to-date software to be used in the program. This has complemented the company’s other initiatives to articulate to students what the industry is all about.
“We’ve been associated with AYCE for a number of years,” he says. “Helping them is a great opportunity to give back and help the industry prepare itself for the future.”
Welsh says CARSTAR’s “Give, Green and Growth” program has been the catalyst for a number of community improvement initiatives, but over the last several years AYCE’s work and that of automotive program coordinator Marc Tremblay’s have been an inspirational effort that Welsh sees as helping fill the vacant positions across the collision industry that will become even more apparent in the next five to 10 years. He says he took his idea to donate the vehicle to AYCE to the three CARSTAR owners–across five locations–in Scarborough, and the decision was unanimous.
“We feel this is something that fits our criteria to help the program,” says Welsh.
The following CARSTAR owners will be involved with the program:
- Frank and Mary Blandezzi – CARSTAR Scarborough North East
- Ed Kemenoff – CARSTAR Express Scarborough / CARSTAR North York – Sheppard / CARSTAR Scarborough West
- John Papalazarou – CARSTAR Scarborough South
For more information on AYCE, please visit AYCE.on.ca.
To learn more about CARSTAR, please visit the company online at CARSTAR.ca.
