Hamilton, ON, November 24, 2009 – Hamilton’s own CARSTAR Automotive Canada Inc., the country’s largest network of high quality collision repair centres, kicked off a special anniversary while raising money for an important cause. Last Friday, at their annual Casino Night gala in support of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF), more than 700 insurance and vendor partners, employees and friends attended the event. President and CEO of CARSTAR, Sam Mercanti, presented a cheque for more than $100,000 to the CCFF, through fundraising efforts over the last year.

For the past ten years, CARSTAR Collision Repair Centres across Canada have worked to support the fight against the deadly disease of cystic fibrosis (CF), through fundraising initiatives held during the year. These include local activities as well as national campaigns such as the CARSTAR Soaps it Up for Cystic Fibrosis National Car Wash Day. To date, CARSTAR has raised more than $1.7 million to fund research and treatment in the fight against CF.

“We are all very passionate about finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and this is something that is shared by all our franchise owners, our staff and our insurance and vendor partners all across Canada.” said Sam Mercanti, President and CEO of CARSTAR Automotive Canada.
The evening was also the launch of CARSTAR’s Sweet 15th Anniversary Celebration, commemorating the Hamilton based company’s many years in the collision repair industry. Hosted by Hamilton Tiger Cats kicker, Nick Setta, the theme for the evening was “La Dolce Vita – The Sweet Life”, which included the sweet sounds of Canadian music artist Suzie McNeil. She performed several her hits including her hit song “Believe” which was chosen as the theme for this year’s Winter Olympics.

“It’s hard to believe, 15 years ago, we launched our first franchise in Canada,” said Sam Mercanti, “Though the collision repair industry has changed, our vision has remained the same, to be the leader in the Canadian collision repair business while also giving back to the community. An event such as this simply proves it.”

Several CARSTAR partners helped make Friday’s fundraising gala a success. Sponsors included; Platinum: BASF; Gold: DuPont and Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Bronze: Akzo Nobel and LKQ-Keystone; as well as several Star and Regular sponsors including, Discount Car Rental, 3M Canada, Bank of Montreal, Co-Auto, DuPont, NAPA, Paul’s Restorations, Queensway Auto Parts, Road Canada, Saint Gobain, Intercorp, Canadian Underwriter and Mitchell International.

About CF and the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a Canada-wide health charity with 50 volunteer chapters, which funds CF research and care. The Foundation supports more than 50 research projects that explore all aspects of the cystic fibrosis puzzle, including research into lung transplantation. For more information visit www.cysticfibrosis.ca

About CARSTAR Collision Repair Centres
CARSTAR is the largest and fastest growing automotive repair franchise network with over 400 locations in North America. Founded in Hamilton, Ontario in 1995, CARSTAR Automotive Canada Inc. has grown from eight to over 135 locations throughout 10 provinces. Within Canada, CARSTAR repairs approximately 100,000 vehicles per year with the highest rate of customer satisfaction. Visit www.carstar.ca for details.