Children’s Charity Receives Much-Needed Vehicle From Local Collision Stores

The season of giving was still going strong at the General Motors Centre when Carstar Collison and Glass Centres donated a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan to Grandview Children’s Centre, a facility that serves 5,000 children and youth with special needs every year in Durham Region with 2,000 more kids on the waiting-list to receive service.

Grandview Children’s Centre is an independent not-for-profit organization and Durham’s only children’s treatment centre providing a range of programs and services including speech-language pathology, physiotherapy, social work services and therapeutic recreation for kids with special needs.

“Carstar has a commitment to supporting the communities that support us,” said Carstar Regional Manager Collin Welsh, “so when we heard that Grandview Children’s Centre was in need of a vehicle to support the work they do with children in the region, our store owners jumped right in to help. This program was actually initiated by the seven Carstar owners throughout the Durham Region, who refurbished the vehicle by donating the manpower and facilities to repair the vehicle along with the help of our valued partners who donated items such as paint, parts and graphics.”

The vehicle was presented in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Oshawa Generals game, which also hosted Carstar owners, staff and partners, all of whom played a role in repairing and donating the vehicle.

Grandview’s Executive Director, Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann, said, “We are grateful to the team at Carstar for donating the van. It fills a huge need we have for transportation throughout the year, including for the summer day camps we offer, as well as for our community fundraising activities. We are so proud that the vehicle will help raise awareness about Grandview Kids every time it’s on the road – and we plan for it to be on the road a lot.”