Helping the community

On a typical working day, Ryan Peterson and his team of automotive experts answer dozens of vehicle-related questions from CAA Members.

Last Oct. 21, however, the former mechanic and current manager of automotive services for CAA South Central Ontario spent the day explaining basic auto maintenance and answering questions for a group of seniors in Muskoka.

The seminar was the result of a request from the Older Adult Programming for The District of Municipality of Muskoka. “Many of them didn’t know how to take care of vehicles,” Peterson explains.

Were these seniors CAA Members? Not necessarily, but that wasn’t the point.

“I was able to provide reassurance and explain basic things that needed to be done. You could hear the relief in their voices,” he says. “Anytime I see an opportunity to do something good, I’ll do my little bit.”

Going the extra mile

That’s a sentiment widely shared across CAA. When asked about why they regularly go above and beyond, Associates will all tell you the same thing: “It’s just what we do.”

Being driven by good is at the very core of CAA and its Associates. “That’s the culture that we work in at CAA,” says Laura Kwiatkowski, manager, loyalty and travel marketing for CCG Manitoba. “Everyone comes to the table with their best effort all the time.”

Kwiatkowski’s own actions are proof of that. When Covid-19 restrictions prevented Members from going to a CAA Store to collect prizes, Kwiatkowski took it upon herself to drop off the items at their homes.

She even arranged for a set of four Pirelli tires a Member had won to be delivered to a local garage, since they didn’t have enough storage space.

“When Members receive everything they were promised,” Kwiatkowski says, “that grows our integrity and reflects positively on CAA.”

A lasting legacy

So positively, in fact, that Members often let us know when an Associate has gone above and beyond for them.

One such Member, Michelle, told our insurance team that she and her family had planned their first big trip to Portugal and the Canary Islands for June 2020. It was particularly special because the vacation was funded with money her Grama Millie, a world traveller, had left her.

It was her grandmother’s wish that Michelle use the money for travelling, so when the pandemic hit and the trip had to be cancelled, Michelle was devastated. Because she had purchased travel insurance through CAA, she made a claim.

With so many claims to process though, it took some time. “As the many months rolled by, we really did begin to lose faith,” she wrote in an email to CAA. “I felt heartbroken that I could lose what Grama had left us.”

“Today, a cheque arrived that completely covered our loss. I don’t mind saying I couldn’t help the tears that came when I opened that letter. You’ll never know how much it meant to our family to feel we did not lose that precious gift Grama left us.”

It’s stories like Michelle’s that reinforce how CAA’s quiet determination to do the right thing is the key reason Members stay with us and why CAA continues to be driven by good.

Read on

To learn more about CAA’s commitment to serving our communities, visit Driven By Good.

Image credit: VectorStory/iStock