DETROIT, July 31, 2014—Sponsors and attendees of the sold-out Collision Repair Education Foundation’s 2014 Golf Fundraiser raised more money than any previous event in its 13-year history.
Brandon Eckenrode, director of development for the Collision Repair Education Foundation, said the golf outing raised between $70,000-$80,000, which is a dramatic increase from just five years ago when the event raised $19,000.
The event, co-hosted by PPG Industries and held on the first day of the NACE/CARS Expo & Conference in Detroit, raises money for high school and college collision repair students, collision instructors and related school programs.
“We’ve been well supported by both sponsors and participants,” Eckenrode said. “It’s because of them that we’ve made quite a jump in the amount of money that we’ve raised.”
Two contests for participants were held during the Golf Fundraiser, a helicopter golf ball drop and a hole-in-one competition. Marie Peevy won the helicopter ball drop, and donated half of her $1,700 winnings back to the foundation.
Rick Johnson of BASF won the hole-in-one contest that was sponsored by AirBagSolutions.com. Pending verification, Johnson will receive a $10,000 prize for his winning shot.
“We’re already looking forward to planning for next year,” Eckenrode added. “The date and location is to be determined, but obviously to go from $19,000 to averaging now $80,000 at our event …This is great news to report.”
