Jun 8, 2023

Treasurer and Chairman of the Scholarship and Grants committee John Fiorino worked with fellow committee members Bill Murar, Roger Smith, and Denise Rich-Gross to establish a program to encourage and support a new generation of students to pursue/continue an education in motorcycle repair/restoration. To accomplish this, the AMF wanted to offer scholarships to qualified students in community colleges with motorcycle repair/restoration certificate/degree programs. Planning for the program started in early 2020 with the intent to offer scholarships to worthy students in 2021. The AMF contacted 10 institutions with motorcycle repair/restoration programs but unfortunately, like many other endeavors, Covid hit many things came to a standstill with schools suspending classes. As the cases of Covid reduced and the restrictions were lifted, the committee once again jumped into action and reestablished relationships with various institutions. But the landscape had changed somewhat. Some schools reduced their programs, and one decided to end their program completely. In addition, the committee never anticipated the hurdles it would have to jump through to give scholarships to the students directly. Many institutions had their own foundations and wanted the AMF to donate to those foundations. After many discussions we found one institution Central Carolina Community College that was interested in what the AMF wanted to do and removed any administrative barriers to make it happen.

Central Carolina Community College located in Sanford, North Carolina was established in 1961. The college is located on 104 acres, and has 237,000 square feet of classroom, shop, laboratory, and library space. Their student population consists of approximately 5,000, with 1,500 students in the Applied Technologies program. Drew Goodson is the Dean of Business and Applied Technologies, of which the Motorcycle Mechanics Certificate and Diploma programs are included. Fiorino spent considerable time discussing the AMF Scholarship program with Craig Ciliberto, the Department Chair of Transportation Technology. As Chair of Transportation Technology, Craig is responsible for the Automotive, Motorcycle, Restoration, and Collision programs. Craig has been very supportive of the foundation's desire to provide scholarships for the students in the Motorcycle Mechanics program. Craig is also a motorcycle enthusiast and has owned a few motorcycles in the past, the last one a 1998 Kawasaki 600.

Fiorino also spent time discussing the AMF program with Jason Rouse, the Lead Instructor of the Motorcycle Mechanics program. Jason graduated from the Motorcycle Mechanics program in 2002. He spent 22 years in the motorcycle repair field repairing Yamaha, BMW, and Ducati bikes. In 2019, Jason decided to return to Central Carolina Community College and pass his knowledge and skill onto the future generation of motorcycle mechanics. Jason is currently working on a 1996 BMW 1100 RT. This collaboration between the AMF and CCCC led to six students submitting applications for the AMF Scholarship Program. After discussions with the Motorcycle Mechanics staff, the AMF Scholarship Committee selected four students to receive our inaugural scholarships based on the course of study of motorcycle repair/restoration, the desire for higher education, and need. Fiorino was selected by AMF President Roger Smith to travel to North Carolina and present the winning students their scholarship checks. Congratulations to the 2022 winners of AMF Scholarships!