Staff Reports
The creative employees at Faurecia Clean Mobility in Columbus have cooked up something special again to raise money for Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, which provides assistance to people with life-limiting illness in Bartholomew and 15 other counties.
At the end of tonight’s annual Labor Day weekend concert, featuring headliner Randy Bachman, seven original-design grills and two unique industrial art sculptures will be raffled off with proceeds benefiting the local hospice.
This is the fourth year that employees from Faurecia, one of the world’s largest automotive equipment suppliers, have used their design, engineering and welding skills to benefit Our Hospice.
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The Faurecia grills have generated $17,000 for Our Hospice during the first three years. Proceeds from sales generated a combined $7,000 the first two years, then jumped to nearly $10,000 last year.
The nine pieces donated this year nearly equals the number of creations from the first three years combined — four grills last year, and three each in 2015 and 2016.
Here’s a rundown of this year’s creations.
Roast Masters Grill: Charcoal/wood grill cooking surface; food-preparation area including sink with hot water heater, low-pressure water pump; granite counter tops with blue-tooth stereo system; Trent Bogard, team lead.
BBQ Express: Train-shaped body with grill in the engine area; storage cabinet; three porcelain-coated charcoal racks; Derek Roberts, team lead.
Tree & Smoker grill: Full grill, smokers stump and storage stump with hinged lid; split charcoal and stainless steel cooking surface; removable canopy; Tony Sypula, team lead.
Flame Fattal grill: Twin wooden cabinet and food-preparation areas flanking the grill; Francois Fattal, team lead.
The Joker grill: 46-inch-wide main grill with 30-inch grilling surface; two 10-inch smokers with vent caps; four heavy-duty casters; two slide-out drawers with Yenti coolers; Andrew Lynn team lead.
Smoker’s Paradise grill: Barrel-shaped cooking grill, storage area, on casters; James Grady, team lead.
Mack Truck grill: Resembles big-rig vehicle with single front wheels and double back wheels; green fenders; smoke stack; Charles Mosley, team lead.
Turtle Fire Pit: Decorative yard art, burning pit with removable top (turtle shell) and handle (turtle tail) for easy removal; Tony Sypula, team lead.
Tin Man art: Yard art of “Wizard of Oz” character, Tin Man, with red heart on his chest; Ruth Means, team lead.
An example of the elaborate efforts and time contributed is the BBQ Express grill, designed and built by nine Faurecia team members, including a computer-aided design specialist, engineer, four sheet metal workers, two benchmarking specialists and a garage technician.
The concept was originally sketched free-hand on a sheet of legal-sized paper, then refined in detail using CAD technology.
Components of the grill were modularly shaped for assembly in the Faurecia shop.
The custom designs for grill projects often include materials donated by manufacturers and retailers. For the BBQ Express grill, support came from Kroot Corp. and QuickSigns of Columbus and Extreme Finishes of Seymour.
The BBQ Express team contributed a combined 581 community service hours to the grill project from early April to late June.
With $2,000 to work with, they came in $294 below budget.
Raffle tickets for the grill give-aways are $10 each or three for $25, and can be purchased until noon today at the Our Hospice Center, 2626 17th St., Columbus, and at tonight’s concert. Winners will be announced after the concert ends, about 10 p.m., and do not have to be in attendance to claim their prizes.
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What: Our Hospice of South Central Indiana benefit concert, 7 p.m. today. Opening act The Why Store followed by deadliner Randy Bachman, at 8:30 p.m. Free admission.
Where: Mill Race Park, Fifth Street in Columbus. Parking at Cummins Inc. lot across from the park, downtown garages and other locations. Free admission.
Access: Park open to foot traffic all day; vehicular traffic limited to 11 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. for people to place lawn chairs or blankets for seating.
Food/beverages: Food and drinks available at the park with proceeds supporting Our Hospice; coolers, including alcohohol beverages, can be brought in.
Fundraisers: Raffle tickets sold at $10 each for a chance to win $10,000. Also raffle tickets for Faurecia-designed grills at $10 each or three for $25. Winners of the raggle drawings will be announced at the conclusion of the concert, around 10 p.m.
Weather: 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms starting mid-afternoon; concert will be canceled in the event of severely inclement weather. Notification will be posted on the Facebook page for Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.
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