Corey Desrosiers has turned the arrival of his 1970 Pontiac Firebird into a second fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House, raising about $3,400 at an unveiling in Red Deer.
Desrosiers, owner of Fix Auto Red Deer, placed the winning bid for the restored Pontiac at Fix Network’s national conference in Banff in May. Collision Repair reported the auction and Desrosiers’s family connection to the charity in July. He said he saw another opportunity to raise money when it came time to deliver the car.
On June 10, Desrosiers invited staff, suppliers and members of the public to Fix Auto Red Deer South for an unveiling. Mike Hall of Rust Valley Restorers, from whom Fix Network had bought the Firebird before restoring it, attended the event. Guests joined a free barbecue and entered raffle draws for prizes supplied with help from Axalta and NAPA.
“I thought, when the car comes to be delivered to me, let’s get some more mileage out of this and raise some more money,” Desrosiers told Collision Repair. He said the proceeds from the Red Deer event went to the local Ronald McDonald House charity.
The cause has been important to his family for decades. Desrosiers’s late nephew spent years receiving cancer treatment in Edmonton while his family lived far north of the city, and Ronald McDonald House gave his parents and siblings somewhere to stay near the hospital.
“I get teared up just talking about it,” Desrosiers said. “The charity has always been important for our family.”
Desrosiers said he has been in business for 26 years and has long enjoyed collecting cars. He plans to keep the Firebird. Its unveiling allowed the Red Deer community to take part in the fundraiser that began with the Good Will Driving restoration and Banff auction.
