The Collision Industry Foundation (CIF), an organization that raises funds for worthy causes in order to enhance the image of the industry, has named its Board of Trustees: President Doug Webb, Vice President Glen Funk, Secretary Marco Grossi, and Treasurer Chad Sulkala. 

Other Trustees are industry notables Gene Hamilton, Rick Keister, Tom Moreland, Jeanne Silver, Tom Styker and Chuck Sulkala.

"CIF was originally founded to handle the $500,000 in contributions collected to help fund the health center at Camp Mak-A-Dream," said Doug Webb. "It occurred to us that the Foundation had the capability of doing much more.

"Over the past two years the Foundation has contributed almost $10,000 to local causes including children's hospitals and battered women's outreach programs. And just this past year," Webb continued, "we raised over $50,000 to send two of our best and brightest collision repair and refinish students to the WorldSkills competition which will be held later this year in Helsinki, Finland."

Three-year plan

Recently, CIF agreed to assist I-CAR's Brandon Eckenrode in his effort to raise money for Chicago-area fire departments by competing in the 2005 Chicago Triathlon. Eckenrode's goal is to raise $1,000,000 to be used to buy and upgrade department safety equipment.

"Our immediate goals," stated Webb, "are to identify specific fundraising opportunities that will meet our image- improvement objectives, and outline a three-year plan that puts the Foundation on a long-term path to success.

"But just because the Foundation has its own programs doesn't mean it isn't ready to help other organizations achieve their charitable goals," Webb stated. "Any organization interested in a program similar to Brandon's, should contact CIF. The Foundation will be more than happy to listen to any proposal."

The Collision Industry Foundation is closely aligned with the National Auto Body Council. For more information or to submit a proposal, call toll-free at 888-66-PRIDE or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it