DIAMOND BAR, Calif.—Donald Schlenger, chairman of the Aftermarket Foundation and a former Strauss Discount Auto executive, received the 2006 Specialty Equipment Market Association President's Service Award at the recent SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
The award recognizes individuals and organizations for outstanding service to the automotive specialty equipment industry. The award is not given every year as it is only awarded when a recipient is “deemed truly deserving,” SEMA said.
The Aftermarket Foundation is a nonprofit group that assists individuals and families of automotive aftermarket employees who have fallen on hard times because of an unexpected death, catastrophic illness or financial hardship. The group formed in 1959 as the Jesselson Benevolent Association.
Under Mr. Schlenger's 25 years of leadership, the group expanded from providing about $10,000 a year to two cases in the early 1980s to administering about $250,000 to 25 cases.
Mr. Schlenger had worked for R&S Strauss—now Strauss Discount Auto—from 1949 to 1988.
“It is my privilege to give back to the industry that has given me so much,” he said in a SEMA statement. “It is the only charity that really helps individuals and families that have come upon hard times.”
For more information, read Tire Business´ story from February about the Aftermarket Foundation.