Rick O’Neill
Car dealers from across the country continue to give back to important causes in their communities through personal time, donations, organizing events, and launching new projects from the ground up. Canadian auto dealer connected with a handful of these dealers to tell their stories.
Every year, Canadian car dealers from coast-to-coast-to-coast balance their time and resources between daily operations, store management, and charitable events and projects meant to help and support their communities.
For many dealers, they don’t give it a second thought; it’s a way of life and they are willing to do the heavy work of building a project from the ground up, spreading their time and money across multiple important causes — giving back countless hours of personal time in the process, for the benefit of others.
We connected with a few dealers to provide a glimpse into what happens across Canada, though this snapshot is by no means representative of all regions and dealers.
NEWFOUNDLAND
In the easternmost province of Canada, Rick O’Neill, Dealer Principal for O’Neill Automotive Group, is balancing business with a passion for flying, which has him helping people throughout the region with Search and Rescue.
O’Neill is a pilot and has been part of the not-for-profit organization, which seeks to help people in distress or in danger, for the past 15 years.
“If somebody is lost, if an aircraft is missing, (or) if a ship is lost at sea — JRCC, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, is responsible for any jurisdiction within Canada,” said O’Neill. “We are a civilian volunteer organization that works with JRCC (and) we’re actually trained in search and rescue by the military.”
He said there have been times when a fishing boat capsized and there were “lost souls.” Or they had to search for a lost aircraft and the people that may have gone missing with it.
When asked why O’Neill selected this cause over other organizations, he said he thought about what it would be like to be in another person’s shoes. “What would I want? What would I hope that somebody would do for me?”
When asked why O’Neill selected this cause over other organizations, he said he thought about what it would be like to be in another person’s shoes. “What would I want? What would I hope that somebody would do for me?” He said the military does a great job in helping with these issues, but their resources only extend so far. “We’re taxed.”
Those involved with Search and Rescue must re-qualify every year, in which they are given a scenario to consider and asked what they should do. For example, military personnel may set out an emergency locator for an aircraft that’s gone down, and then gauge those re-qualifying to see how organized they are, how well the team works together, and how well the pilot crew works together, before passing or failing volunteers.
“We’ve always passed it because we’ve been very fortunate to have some very dedicated volunteers,” said O’Neill.
Maxime Vincent
QUEBEC
In la belle province you will find Maxime Vincent, Owner of Groupe Vincent, which caters to the Shawinigan and Trois-Rivières region and sells and services Honda, Hyundai and Mazda vehicles.
Now in its fourth generation, the group has been around since 1924, and its current owner is hard at work on the charitable front where he is building a foundation from the ground up to help young people get out and get active.
Fondation Jeunes en Action (the Youth in Action Foundation) was “founded and is managed by five passionate people from the greater Shawinigan region,” said Vincent. “We started the foundation in May with the goal to educate, promote and financially support our youth in need of assistance to facilitate access to physical activities and sports.”
Vincent wants to help young people become more active and he doesn’t want financial obstacles to block opportunities — things like registration fees, sports gear, and other materials they may need.
The foundation organized a golf tournament in August that helped raise $15,000. The next event will be a hockey tournament in February or March 2020, followed by a run in June, and a themed evening in 2020.
As we form this snapshot of dealerships across Canada, being charitable means more than simply writing a cheque.
“It’s a lot of time, because we want to give 95 per cent of the revenues directly to the region, so it’s volunteering, volunteering, volunteering — and employees are helping too,” said Vincent. “It’s really nice team work, (and) it motivates people internally” at the dealership.
He is also responsible for visiting physical education teachers in schools within the region. The foundation reviews projects submitted by teachers in these schools and accepts certain ones related to physical education, helping them to launch the projects and get things moving.
Among other things, Groupe Vincent was also involved in organizing community test drives at the Canadian Tire of Shawinigan in September through the Fondation CIUSSS de l’énergie, (Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec / Prestige Mazda / Mazda Canada team).
The goal was to improve improve the quality and accessibility of health care provided by the centre. For each test drive, Mazda Canada provided $20 to the foundation. Vincent’s group managed to raise $4,800 in total.
Kristine Fair
ONTARIO
In Ontario, we caught up with Kristine Fair, President and Owner of Mike Fair Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac Ltd.
She was juggling a range of charitable events at the time, from learning Tango in five short lessons to perform at their hospital’s gala to raise funds through the purchase of vote ballots, to organizing an AGM and gala.
When she finally had a quiet moment, Fair told Canadian auto dealer that this year she decided to focus on charities that either invest in children, or in health care through local hospitals such as Smiths Falls and Perth.
“Children are our future and many, through no fault of their own, are born into or raised in unfavourable environments,” said Fair, who helps out through various programs.
“From the breakfast programs in our elementary schools, helping cover expenses of playground equipment, or sponsoring an outdoor evening movie in the park. I’m particularly keen on Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Lanark County, the Salvation Army Angel Tree and Christmas Hamper campaigns, as well as the Smiths Falls Bears recreational hockey teams for girls and boys.”
Fair said they provided a large donation a few years ago to build a new arena, and this year they covered the cost for at least three sets of jerseys. They also provided funding to help offset the cost of registration for families.
For the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, she said people can mentor for as little as an hour a week with the in-school program, or offer a traditional “big” investment of three to four hours a week. Fair’s business has supported various fundraising events for the “BBBS” program and provided the organization with a check from its bi-weekly staff barbecue during the summer and the Wear Purple Day.
Janine Wilson
BRITISH COLUMBIA
On the West coast, Marketing Manager Janine Wilson discussed the type of charitable events and community efforts that have kept the MacCarthy Motors Group busy this year. The group owns two dealerships, one in the Terrace B.C. area, and the other in Prince Rupert.
Wilson, who is based at the group’s Terrace, B.C., store, said the dealership has been in the community for more than 30 years and is owned by the MacCarthy Motors Group since 2002 as a family-run dealership.
“Basically, what we do is, we’re part of all these different boards, different organizations,” said Wilson. “Our General Manager is part of Terrace Search and Rescue. I’m part of the hospital foundation. I’m also part of a Speechcraft group. We’re all very much involved in the community.”
Wilson, who is approaching her two-year anniversary with the group come January, said charitable giving has always been a main point of the dealership. It’s one of the reasons she decided to join the dealership. “It aligned perfectly with my goals to support charity in our community,” said Wilson. “They’ve always been relied on from the community to support various organizations.”
This includes things like a backpack program where the dealership sponsors backpacks for those less fortunate in the community to ensure they don’t go home hungry over the weekend. Another example is a purse program for the homeless: employees of the MacCarthy Motors Group donate old purses, and the dealership adds toiletries before giving it to women in homeless shelters who may have had issues with domestic violence and had to leave their home in a hurry.
Also in B.C. is Mike Hacquard, Dealer Principal of Wolfe Auto Group, who is hard at work with business matters, while also ensuring the dealership is supporting its community. One of the projects he is working on is The Citypak Project.
“Over the last four years we have distributed safe, water resistant, and versatile Citypak backpacks that are uniquely designed to meet the constantly changing needs of the homeless living on the streets and shelters,” said Hacquard. “We have brought the specially-designed backpacks to those most vulnerable homeless communities in Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, and this year we are expanding our distribution to include the New Westminster area.”
Hacquard said his employees participate in handing out backpacks and durable blankets to the homeless, and they also volunteered to serve meals. The Wolfe Auto Group was one of the first organizations to bring this initiative to B.C., according to Hacquard.
The dealership also gives back to the food bank through the “Wolfe’s Annual Summer Food Drive” campaign, which helps raise funds and collect nonperishable food items for the Surrey, Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Hacquard said they use their social media platforms as a way to bring awareness to the causes they support.
“A number of years ago I became more aware of the various needs of our vulnerable, impoverished, and youth at risk. I decided to redirect our company vision and philosophy,” said Hacquard. “I wanted to be more than just a car company selling cars. I wanted our team to be involved.”
As we form this snapshot of dealerships across Canada, being charitable means more than simply writing a cheque. It starts with the heart.
