The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) announced that Allstate has agreed to fund a $10,000 Collision School Career Readiness Benchmark Grant, which will be awarded to Thornton Fractional High School Center for Academics and Technology in Calumet City, Ill., to improve its collision repair education program. The grant is part of Allstate’s $55,000 donation to CREF in 2021.

“The collision repair industry is in a talent crisis,” said Sandee Lindorfer, outside auto director for Allstate, which has supported the efforts of CREF since 1991. “We need to make sure young people learning these trades have the right tools to advance their careers. One way of doing that is funding schools to help them get access to the right tools and technology to teach students.”

Added CREF Managing Director Brandon Eckenrode, “On behalf of the collision school programs we are able to support through our industry partners, I thank Allstate for their continued support of our efforts. Their generosity extends beyond this monetary donation, which allows us to help collision instructors with their program budget needs, to include providing vehicle donations and volunteering on our Board of Trustees.”

The Collision School Career Readiness Benchmark Grants recognize schools that excel at educating students in collision repair, but due to strained school budgets, the programs require additional financial assistance to provide supplies necessary to teach students. For those interested in applying, applications for the 2022 grants will be available online in January 2022.

Industry members interested in getting involved and supporting CREF’s efforts to assist secondary and post-secondary collision repair training programs should contact Brandon Eckenrode at (312) 231-0258 or [email protected].