Car enthusiast honored with repair fund to help people with transportation needs

Julian DiNino of Kilbuck bought his first BMW E-30 when he was 14.

He was serious about cars.

With skills he learned from both friends and his dad, who was an airplane mechanic, DiNino worked on becoming adept at fabrication and welding, eventually becoming a car performance mechanic.

After graduating from Avonworth High School in 2021, he shared his auto-savvy techniques as a social media creator, soon amassing 300,000 followers on Instagram and 75 million viewers on YouTube with his race car fabrication videos.

DiNino died unexpectedly at 22 in June.

To honor his legacy, his family established the Julian Dinino Car Repair Fund to help people in need in the community with transportation costs.

The fund will be divided evenly between the North Hills Community Outreach Transportation Assistance Program and Allegheny Valley Association of Churches Transportation Assistance Program, according to Scott Shaffer, NHCO’s executive director.

DiNino’s family, whose church, Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon, was a longtime supporter of the outreach center, reached out to Shaffer to share his story and details of his life.

“Transportation is one of the most significant barriers to economic self-sufficiency, and helping people to overcome transportation barriers has a significant long-term effect on community members in need,” Shaffer said. “Julian’s family identified immediately after his passing that they would like to create a fund for people to make car repairs.”

Both NHCO and the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches assist people who are employed or seeking employment with transportation needs and with the cost of car repairs and more.

“NHCO’s transportation financial assistance program is a unique and transformational program that assists individuals seeking education and employment to cover the cost of car repairs, bus passes, child car seats and more,” Shaffer said.

Karen Snair, executive director for the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches, said it’s “an incredible gift.”

“It’s really difficult to find help with car repairs. It’s a very unique gift. There are very few organizations that help with that. It’s just such a special thing that the family is doing,” Snair said.

Kenneth and Tina DiNino, Julian’s parents, and his sister, Eva, said Julian had aspirations of helping others with car repairs with the proceeds he made from social media, according to Shaffer.

To view DiNino’s videos, visit YouTube.com/@Julian_dinino.

To donate to the Julian Dinino Car Repair Fund, visit nhco.org /julian.