Aftermarket Insider Issue 68 - (Page 16)

AFTERMARKET NEwS a helping hand The Aftermarket Foundation The foundation assists individuals and families in the automotive aftermarket who have fallen on hard times. Note: This article is adapted from the June/July 2003 issue of Aftermarket Insider. The Aftermarket Foundation is now in its 52nd year of giving back to the industry. ally found out who had referred the Semocks to the foundation. Years ago, Larry and Barbara “I was happy to get the check that one time, but the need didn’t end, Semock with Kraco Products, Inc., and neither did the checks. They were in a bad place. Larry, who was kept coming, month after month, to in his mid-50s, was battling brain cover our living expenses,” Barbara cancer. With tens of thousands of said. After Larry lost his battle with dollars in medical bills and Larry not cancer years ago, Barbara was left able to work, the debt was mounting. with big debts and no income. She Then, adding to their troubles, the received checks from the foundaseptic tank broke at their home. Things tion, which continued until she was looked bleak for the Semocks. They able to provide her own income. contacted the Aftermarket Foundation. Later that same week, Larry and Barbara received a check from the foundation. The Semocks had learned about this remarkable group when Larry was first diagnosed with cancer. One of Larry’s associates had told him about the program. It was not until years later that Barbara actuSemock is just one the hundreds of recipients throughout the years, that have been helped by checks from the Aftermarket Foundation. The foundation is now in its 52nd year of assisting individuals and families from the automotive aftermarket who have fallen on hard times because of unexpected death, catastrophic illness or other financial hardship. The Aftermarket Foundation began in 1959 as the Jesselson Fund, named for a beloved rep named Ray Jesselson, who has passed away. His business friends were among the founding members — people such as “Moe” Strauss, who started The Pep Boys, and Arthur Taubman, founder of Advance Stores. They got their initial funding from friends and suppliers, and they wound up with a lot of money but no place to spend it. The Jesselson Fund languished for years until Donald Schlenger of (then) Roth, and Schlenger saw the same needs present as had the founders, and decided to do something about it. He brought in industry people to form a board, and took over resurrecting the concept into a forceful foundation, dedicated to raising money and distributing it to needy aftermarket members. “The Jesselson people had all this money and didn’t know what to do with it,” said Donald Schlenger, chairman of 16 | AFTERMARKET INSIDER | VOLUME 68

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aftermarket Insider Issue 68

Aftermarket Insider Issue 68
Contents
President’s Message
The Automotive Aftermarket’s Green Story
Consumer Alert: FTC Responds to Warranty Misinformation
Government Affairs
Industry News
Member Profile
Toolbox: Downtime at Work
Toolbox
International Focus
Industry News
Technology Update
Market Intelligence

Aftermarket Insider Issue 68