All American Tire & Automotive Inc. held a fundraiser Aug. 30-31 to support the construction of a local center for children waiting to be placed with foster homes or other guardians.
For the fundraiser, All American Tire donated 75 percent of its profits from business those two days, said Owner John Christl.
The Carson Valley Children's Center will be named Austin's House in remembrance of a local teenager, Jeffrey Austin Kirby. Jeffrey, who was known as Austin, had epilepsy and experienced daily seizures as well as side effects from his medication, according to the children's center Web site.
He was teased by his classmates and committed suicide at age 15 last October, according to the foundation set up in his honor.
Austin's grandmother, Patty Clark, established the Austin Kirby Foundation. ``The foundation was created in the hope that countless local children could be spared unhappiness and emotional and physical dislocation by providing a group residence for children in need of sanctuary,'' Ms. Clark said on the foundation's Web site.
The foundation partnered with the local children's center to help raise money. ``Austin's House will be a fitting memorial to Austin and to others whose lives were and are an example of love in the face of adversity,'' the children's center said.
Mr. Christl said he chose to raise funds for the project because he knows the family both personally and as customers.
``There's a lot of things around, and we felt (since) this was a local charity...they need everything they can get, so we wanted to support them,'' he told Tire Business.
He said the fundraiser may be held again in the future as the chosen Labor Day weekend is a hectic one for families.
Any work the Gardnerville-based shop wasn't able to finish on those two days also was included. Mr. Christl said he brought in more technicians, ``but like anywhere else, good people are hard to find,'' he said.
``The human race is much, much nicer than we might think in spite of the nightly news,'' Ms. Clark said in a statement. ``And John and Joanie Christl have always been among the really special people in our valley.''
Mr. Christl and his wife founded All American Tire in 1975. The shop handles most major brands and performs all automotive services besides mufflers.