Volunteer Pam Watson Pulls Off a Brilliant Stroke of Timing for Florida CREF Golf Fundraiser
12/05/2024 by I-CAR
She's never played a single hole of golf, but that hasn't handicapped I-CAR volunteer and LKQ Refinish area sales manager Pam Watson in coordinating two hugely successful golf fundraisers for the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF). In 2023 and 2024, $5,000 was raised for each of four south Florida schools with a combined annual enrollment of about 125 collision repair students. The ultimate beneficiary, Watson says, “is the industry who will employ graduates of these schools.”
Under Watson's leadership as I-CAR's Florida State Volunteer Committee chair and, as she's quick to credit, “with a lot of work by our dedicated volunteers,” the 26th annual tournament, held Oct. 23, 2024, at Colony West Golf Club, grossed $40,000. Her first shot at managing the event in 2023 did even better. It brought in $50,000, two and a half times more than the prior year's gross. It is one of Watson's prouder accomplishments of her long and distinguished volunteer service, which has been recognized by prestigious industry and I-CAR awards.
Sponsors Make Big Difference
A golf fundraiser has a lot going for it when staged at a championship course in the 'Golf Capital of the U.S.' during Florida's balmy late October weather. The event has been a reliable way for I-CAR volunteer committees to raise funds for CREF. Yet one of the first things Watson did was break a tradition of the popular event. It was a brilliant stroke for a nongolfer, changing a simple variable to attract more sponsors. With the number of golfers limited by the course size to 120, sponsorships were the best way to raise more funds. Beginning in 2023, the tournament day was moved from the weekend to a weekday, when a fundraiser can be a natural mix of business and pleasure.
Industry vendors, both local and regional, responded positively to opportunities to sponsor holes, contests, trophies, the awards luncheon, and other event attractions. In return, sponsors are able to personally interact with attendees at tables and tents set up on the course's holes. They also receive recognition in signage, with higher-level sponsors also entered in the tournament for a foursome. In the 2024 fundraiser, many sponsorships were available in the $500 to $800 range. Most higher-support levels were between $1,000 and $3,000. LKQ Refinish stepped up for the second year in a row as the title sponsorship with a $10,000 donation, and Multiple Shop Operator Classic Collision donated $5,000 as the “diamond” sponsor, also for the second consecutive year.
Another idea Watson brought to the 2024 tournament was inviting collision repair students “so the golfers could see who they're doing this for. We also had representatives from I-CAR talk during a luncheon awards ceremony about the I-CAR Academy program for shops.”
An enduring appeal of the fundraiser is that it is an exceptional networking event. “It's a big hit with the industry,” Watson says. “It's their one opportunity for vendors, sublets, and shops to come together on an equal playing field. They golf, have lunch, get awards. It's a lot of fun, and they love getting together.” No one is left out with a firetruck ball drop that gives nongolfers and others who can't attend a way to support the event plus a chance to win cash prizes. Balls are purchased online for $10 each for a chance to win $1,500.
“The golf fundraiser is our only really solid funding for schools,” Watson says. The proceeds “are critical for buying supplies, tools, and equipment” to educate students at South Tech Academy (a high school), Sheridan Technical College, McFatter Technical College, and Atlantic Technical College. Additionally, proceeds funded individual scholarships for three Florida students in 2024.
Other School Support
After one golf tournament concludes, planning for the next one begins almost immediately. But this fundraiser is just one way I-CAR volunteers in Florida support schools. Another important form of support is direct and regular interaction with school administrators and instructors.
Watson says it's not always feasible for busy shops to attend school advisory meetings. “It's important that people from the industry sit in on these meetings. I-CAR volunteers attend to get first-hand information on what schools are doing and also to give information on what they could be doing better.”
I-CAR's Florida volunteers also meet with educators 10 months out of the year. “This is key to keeping us together,” Watson says. “These meetings are what make us so strong and connected with the schools.”
This regular interaction helps volunteers monitor the status of instructors' CREF grant applications and give assistance where needed. Submitting a CREF application paves the way for schools to receive I-CAR curriculum, including the new I-CAR Academy program that recently launched.
I-CAR volunteers also strive to bring attention to collision repair careers. Florida volunteers supply materials and help with judging at SKILLS USA competitions, both at the state and national levels. They also help coordinate CREF collision repair career fairs for students.
Another volunteer initiative is to bring students into shops. Watson hopes that a highly successful shop tour organized last year by the Broward County I-CAR committee, chaired by Ernie Banfalvy, will become an ongoing activity. Students at three area schools were invited to Sawgrass Ford's I-CAR® Gold Class® collision repair center where fixed ops director Bill Condron led their tour. A technician who'd graduated from the same school as the touring students explained an average day on the job and answered questions. Students were served lunch and participated in a raffle for a paint spray gun. An Instagram Reel of the tour has promoted interest among more shops to set up student tours.
More Volunteers Needed
I-CAR volunteers are organized into committees. In Florida, there is a state committee and two county committees, Palm Beach and Broward, which are merging in 2025. I-CAR is working on recruiting volunteers to cover additional areas of the state. On the Florida state committee, there's a core group of about 30 regulars always ready to help, along with some come-and-go volunteers who pitch in as time permits.
Whatever needs doing, “we get it done,” Watson says, “but we could always use more help from all segments of the industry. When we get together at 6pm at a dealership or a technical college, we're on neutral ground. We're not competing with each other. All of that goes away. We're there for the benefit of the industry.” (Learn how to participate).
Representing the supplier segment of the industry, Watson provides essential and unique capabilities to execute I-CAR volunteer initiatives. On multiple occasions, she's helped open the distribution channels of her employer to CREF to deliver donated products and crash parts to schools. To accomplish this involves significant warehousing and manpower costs.
Watson's extensive support for CREF, from organizing fundraisers and career fairs to connecting shops with students, earned her the 2023 SEMA Red Carpet 'Fueling the Future' award. Her dedication has also been recognized with several other honors, including an I-CAR Founder's Ring (2022), the CREF Bowling Pin Award (2021), and I-CAR Gold Awards for Volunteer Achievement (2020-2023), shared with her fellow Florida committee members.
Watson has been volunteering for most of the many years she's worked in automotive paint distribution. These two passions are inseparable parts of her life. During the regular shop visits she makes for her job at LKQ Refinish, she slips into volunteer mode to encourage shop involvement with schools. She looks for the I-CAR® Gold Class® plaque, checks if it's current, and acknowledges the training commitment made by shops and their Platinum™ technicians, who she often features on I-CAR committee social media.
Watson's own modest start in the industry has convinced her that anyone “with drive and tenacity to learn” can have the kind of success she's enjoyed. At just 18, she was delivering automotive paint on a truck route. Today, she leads a team of sales professionals, cultivates strong relationships with customers and manufacturer representatives, and drives the pursuit of new business opportunities. She says collision repair has “positively impacted my life.”
The solution to the industry's labor shortage can be seen within reach of every collision repairer when you take Watson's view. She says helping shops recruit new talent and encouraging youth to explore collision repair collision careers is “very personal work. It comes down to connecting people to people.”