Supporting Our Community
Dandy Auto & Marine has been an active, contributing member of the Airdrie community since 1993.
When Daryn Fyfe opened Dandy Auto & Marine in 1993, the mission wasn’t just to make money and employ local Airdrie mechanics to work on cars and boats. The Airdrie auto garage and marine repair center was meant to have a positive impact on the town and its residents. Airdrie has grown exponentially since 1993, and the need for long-time local businesses to step up and help the community has never been greater.
Dandy Auto & Marine has consistently answered the call because the business has always been about giving back. This page tells the stories of what the owner and his employees have been doing outside the garage. If you represent a nonprofit or charitable group and you’d like to work with us on your next project, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our office at (403) 945-1555, or contact us here.
Buds in Bloom
“We co-create life-changing community connections for families of children with neurodiversity in Canada. Connections to each other and to helpful services transform stress into relief, discouragement into hope, helplessness into empowerment, and isolation into togetherness.” So goes the impact statement of Buds in Bloom, a volunteer-run Registered Charity.
Dandy Auto & Marine has donated to this charity for years, recognizing the program’s critical nature and the importance of ensuring all children receive the help and support they need. Neurodivergent children are more likely to fall through the cracks than neurotypical kids, so Dandy Auto & Marine takes its mission to help these boys and girls seriously.
Foothills Summer Camp
Children should experience the beauty of nature and have opportunities to learn important life skills in a playful, outdoor setting. Quoting one of the best camps in Alberta, Foothills Camp and Retreat Centre, “Located just 15 minutes west of Bowden, Alberta, Foothills Camp and Retreat Centre is a place where you can unplug from the rigours of life and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. Take a hike, enjoy our vegetarian cuisine, go for a mountain bike ride, or sit by the river. We have everything you need for a wonderful, relaxing time.”
Dandy Auto & Marine has supported Foothills Summer Camp through financial donations and frequent volunteer days during the summer. Company owner Daryn Fyfe, assisted by his kindhearted auto and marine mechanic employees, has spent many summer weekends taking campers out on big rig trucks for countryside joyrides. The team has also brought campers tubing with boats supplied by Dandy Auto & Marine, piloted by expert mechanics who love captaining the boats just as much as they love working on them.
Summers may be short in Alberta, but the experiences that young children have at Foothills Summer Camp and the memories they make there last a lifetime. There is no price tag that can be placed on children having the time of their lives on boats and out on the water in the beautiful nature setting that is this peaceful, nurturing summer camp. From tubing to swimming to jumping off the boats and into the water, the experience may amount to just a few short days in a child’s summer break, but it’s inevitably the highlight of their year.
Airdrie Food Bank
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Alberta has the highest food insecurity rate among Canadian provinces, with roughly 30% of households struggling to afford adequate food. Of particular concern is that the crisis affects households with children the most, with 40% of Alberta children being food insecure. That’s why organizations like the Airdrie Food Bank are so important, as Airdrie in particular has felt the pinch of economic issues: the city’s population soared from 25,000 in 2005 to over 90,000 in 2025, and the costs of living in and around Airdrie have gone up as the city has grown.
Since 2005, Dandy Auto & Marine has hosted an annual food drive during winter, when food insecurity hits hardest. Dandy runs the drive out of the business’s local Airdrie auto garage. The drive typically contributes a couple hundred pounds of food to the Airdrie Food Bank each year. Dandy Auto & Marine has never missed a year, even during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Airdrie Boys and Girls Club
Dandy Auto & Marine proudly supports the needs of Airdrie Boys and Girls Club by donating thousands of pounds of landscaping materials (dirt, mulch, and gravel) to the organization to help establish the outdoor spaces of their new location.
Future Plans
Dandy Auto & Marine has big plans for community support campaigns on the near horizon, so be sure to check back on this page and on Dandy Auto & Marine’s blog for updates.
Get Involved
If you represent a local business, nonprofit, community center, or volunteer organization and you’re interested in making Airdrie a better place for all of us to call home, please don’t hesitate to reach out and inquire as to how we can work together.
Send an email to sales@dandy.ca.