LAS VEGAS -- The National Auto Body Council (NABC) named five recipients of the annual Pride Awards during the Industry Night of Achievement at NACE.

The first recipient introduced by Stacy Bartnik, Vice President of NABC and Chairman of the Marketing and Public Relations Committee, was Charlie Robertson and his students at Cerritos College in Los Angeles. When Aaron Musgrave was called to duty in Iraq, he was restoring a 1966 El Camino.

As a thank you for his service, Charlie, and more than 25 of his students donated over 1500 hours of their time to restore Aaron’s car. Bartnik, reading a statement from Janet Chaney, Pride Award Chairperson “We thank these students for going above and beyond to make a dream come true for someone who gave up that dream in order to serve out country.”

Also receiving a Pride Award was Keystone Automotive Industries, represented by President and CEO, Rick Keister. “Keystone’s charitable works are truly outstanding,” said Bartnik. “They were instrumental in raising the money needed to build a health center at Camp Mak-A-Dream. And Keystone has diligently worked to insure sufficient funds were raised to purchase a new bus for the Camp. When the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, Keystone, through a matching donation program, raised over $140,000 for the Save the Children Foundation. Keystone’s generosity makes our world a better place.”

“The collision industry knows Toby Chess,” continued Bartnik. “His technical and training skills are well known. Perhaps not so well known is the boundless energy he donates to local and national charities. By raising $4000, he provided the down payment seed money for the Camp Mak-A-Dream bus. When the California Highway Patrol ran short of funds, Toby collected funds from area businesses and then matched those funds out of his own pocket, which allowed the Patrol to buy Christmas toys for underprivileged children. When the devastating fires ravaged Southern California, Toby again spearheaded the drive to donate over 2000 toys to children who had lost their Christmas. And, as that season comes again, Toby is working hard to make sure children affected by Hurricanes Katrina , Rita and Wilma have a toy for Christmas. I second Janet’s opinion when she said ‘Toby is our industry’s Santa Claus.’”

The Piña family owns Brea Auto Body in Brea, California. David, Virginia Doreen, Denise and Denise’s new husband, Fred Gruner have for the last eleven years  helped the Mount Tabor Orphanage in Tecate, Mexico grow from a single RV to a ten-building community with over forty nuns and a priest in residence. The orphanage is a sanctuary for children who are victims of abuse, child prostitution and poverty. In 2004 the facility’s well ran dry. The Piña family has been working to raise the $80,000 necessary to run a dedicated water line from Tecate to the orphanage. Over $10,000 has been raised to date, not including Denise and Fred’s wedding donations which they requested in lieu of gifts. “The National Auto Body Council is extraordinarily proud to give you a 2005 Pride Award,” said Bartnik.

The evening’s final award winner is Joe Canby, of Smoot’s CARSTAR Collision Center in Reistertown, MD. Joe is much more than a shop owner. He is also a funeral director who, after the events of 9/11, underwent two years of training to prepare him to deal with human loss on a large scale. Within days after Katrina hit, Joe was on his way to the gulf coast to assist fellow colleagues and the military deal with the death and destruction dealt the area by Katrina. “I doubt any of us can imagine the horrific scenes that greeted Joe,” said Bartnik. “The only thing we can do is thank him for caring enough to do what he did, and for treating his fellow Americans with grace and dignity following one of our country’s worst natural disasters.”

“In recent years,” said Guy Bargnes, NABC President, “it seemed as if a heroic effort was required to receive an award. While there is no doubt that those individuals richly deserved their awards, let us not forget that the self-sacrifice demonstrated by tonight’s award recipients is no less heroic. They all make us proud to be in our industry.”