Having spent the past 3 months in the basement of his in-laws, Charlie and his wife had found a new home. Knowing he had to replace daily living items and come up with a down payment Charlie, with prodding from co-workers, reached out to the Collision Industry Foundation (CIF) for assistance.
"CIF exists to help those within the collision industry that have experienced a catastrophic life event. When we received Charlie's request through our website, www.collisionindustryfoundation.com , we immediately went to work to see what we could do. Through our sponsors and fund raising Gala in Palm Springs we were able to donate $5000 to the Dreppard Family for assistance with closing costs", said CIF Board President Bill Shaw.
The Dreppard family is now in their new home with their children each having bedrooms to sleep in. Charlie continues his work at Schaefer Autobody and is thankful for the collision industry's support. "It is overwhelming to see the support my family and I received during this time. Thank you to CIF and all of the supporters that contributed to help get our lives back on track. This truly is an amazing industry with fantastic people working in it."
About CIF: The Collision Industry Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable foundation dedicated to raising, managing and donating funds while fulfilling the philanthropic goals and needs of the collision industry and the communities they serve. The foundation was established in 2001 to allow for tax-deductible contributions for industry projects such as Leave Something Behind and Crash Hunger. More information is available at http://www.collisionindustryfoundation.org
Imagine receiving a letter from your mortgage company informing you that your home is no longer considered to be in a flood plain. That is the letter the Dreppard family received, and while they were glad to be saving some money after paying extra for flood insurance years, they could not have imagined what was to occur. Little did they know that as the new year approached St. Louis would experience historic flood levels that would leave their home damaged beyond repair.
Charlie Dreppard, a 9-year technician at Schaefer Autobody Centers in St. Louis and a 20-year collision industry veteran, soon had friends and family helping to move his furniture and belongings to higher ground. Charlie's wife and 4 young children all went to the in-law's house to stay while they contemplated their next steps. "We are very fortunate to have friends and family that helped us out during this flood event. We were hopeful to get back into our home but when that wasn't possible we knew we needed to get our lives and especially the kids to a more normal."
