Three Calgary dealership owners who once worked together before taking on their own stores have joined forces over the past two years, with support from their employees, to fund community charities in need of financial assistance.
Charlesglen Toyota’s Tim Beach, 5th Avenue Volkswagen’s Ryan Slaney and Lexus of Royal Oak’s Todd Richardson collectively raised more than $265,000 from employee donations matched by their dealerships during October and November. Last year, the three dealerships raised $145,000.
Beach said each dealership selected a charity that meant something to them. Charlesglen chose Woods Homes, a centre that provides treatment and support for children, young people, adults and families facing mental-health challenges. 5th Avenue Volkswagen supported the Autism Aspergers Friendship Society (AAFS). Lexus of Royal Oak picked the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS).
Tim Beach of Charlesglen Toyota
The owners said they had long participated in a national charity drive at Charlesglen Toyota in support of United Way, raising more than $1 million. They decided to collaborate last year with a renewed focus on local grassroots initiatives, driven in part by Richardson’s daughter, Julia, who is marketing director at Lexus of Royal Oak.
“Our original dealer, Glen Richardson, set out the initiative that we should always be giving back to our community, and he’s the reason all of us are doing what we’re doing,” said Slaney. “He’s the guy that started it, and we’ve continued the legacy. These are community-driven social programs that our initiative is trying to support.”
Slaney added that “They are going to make a difference with the people here in Alberta. It’s something that people believe in, where they can really see the impact when we go down and visit the charities.”
The dealerships choose new charities each year, and that plan will continue.
“The two years have been a little bit about learning and how we can do things in-house,” said Richardson. “We’ve taken things more personally from the dealership level.”
Representatives from each charity were invited to what they believed was a meeting about a corporate fundraiser. They did not know they would be surprised with cheques that were roughly divided three ways.
“In these days of hyperinflation, these charities are in need, and what we like about this in particular is that it’s an investment in our city directly,” said Beach.
Slaney said his store chose AAFS because he has a nephew who is autistic. His assistant service manager’s son and the cousin of the dealership’s used-car manager are also on the autism spectrum.
“It’s something that hits home for us, and it’s an area that we don’t see enough support for on an annual basis,” Slaney said.
Beach noted that on a per-employee basis, 5th Avenue Volkswagen “punched way above their weight” compared with the other two stores.
“This year we probably saw a 30 per cent increase in donations from our staff just because of the charity we chose, and it’s something they know affects other members they work with,” said Slaney. “They understand why we’re doing it, what it’s for, and what the benefits are. They’re on the frontlines doing the hard work. They got behind it and were really energized.”
Richardson said Julia chose AARCS as their charity of choice.
“My son and daughter went to the SPCA three years ago and picked up two dogs. It’s in their DNA,” Richardson said.
