Mattoon, IL-(Radio Effingham)- The Automotive Parts & Service Association (APSA) of Illinois donated $31,200 to Lake Land College to support the learning needs of technology students.
APSA Vice President Jeffrey Dust of Dust & Son Auto Supplies in Effingham and APSA Secretary/Treasurer Dean Kinkelaar of Effingham Regrinding Inc. presented the donation to the Vice President of Academic Services at Lake Land College Jon Althaus at a ceremony on April 22.
The donation to Lake Land College was made possible through APSA’s remaining Ralph Silverman Scholarship and Endowment Fund, as the association will close after June 30. Silverman was a founding member of APSA.
“We wanted the money that was left over to go to educational programs at local middle and high schools,” Dust said. “We knew we wanted the funding to go to the automotive industry.”
APSA was originally formed in 1959 as the Automotive Wholesalers of Illinois, which was one of the most popular state associations for all independent automotive job shops.
Both Dust and Kinkelaar were among the founding members of the association and have been involved with the group for over 50 years. Both are also Lake Land College alumni, so when the group decided how to distribute the remaining funds, Lake Land was one of the first choices.
“We really want to try to keep people in the business and keep those things going,” Kinkelaar said. “We know Lake Land can do it.”
For more information about Lake Land College or how to donate, visit lakelandcollege.edu/foundation/giving.
