Every year, StartKleen’s Dos Amigos mentorship program recognizes the mentors who show up for the people around them. In 2025, that recognition came with a set of car keys.

The 2025 Dos Amigos Car Giveaway celebrated four mentor finalists from across StartKleen’s food processing facilities. StartKleen is a contract sanitation company serving 200+ USDA and FDA-regulated plants across the U.S. Each finalist earned their spot the same way: guiding new hires through the full 120-day Dos Amigos mentorship program to graduation.

Any Dos Amigos Mentor Can Win

Entry into the giveaway is earned, not assigned. Every time an active Dos Amigos mentor guides a new hire through 120-day graduation, they earn a ticket into the annual drawing pool. The earning period runs the full calendar year. The more new hires a mentor takes through the program to completion, the more tickets they accumulate.

Any active Dos Amigos mentor is eligible: no management title needed, no tenure requirement. StartKleen asks only that you’re willing to show up for whoever is placed with you.

In November, finalists are drawn at random from the pool and invited to StartKleen’s management Christmas party, where the winner is announced live. In 2025, the four finalists were Vianai Armengolt, Michael Valandingham, Vicente Jorge Tomas and a fourth mentor drawn from facilities across StartKleen’s operations. All four got there the same way: guiding new hires to 120-day graduation.

• 120 days a new hire must complete with their Dos Amigos mentor for the mentor to earn a ticket
• 4 finalists drawn in 2025 from facilities across StartKleen’s operations
• 1 winner announced live at the management Christmas party

Vianai Armengolt Drove Home in a New Car

Vianai Armengolt has been a Dos Amigos mentor at a StartKleen’s Texas facility for four years. She didn’t come to the Christmas party expecting to win.

She didn’t realize she’d won until the people around her started celebrating.

The car made an immediate practical difference. Vianai had been dealing with ongoing issues with her previous vehicle. What brings her back to mentoring each year: “We hope the new employees grow in the company and they succeed even more than what we do.”

Her advice to anyone considering becoming a Dos Amigos mentor: “Just go for it. Don’t be scared. It’s a new experience.”

A Car Changes More Than a Morning Commute

StartKleen chose a car because for many people on the team, reliable transportation is a real daily problem. A cash bonus disappears. A car is there every morning.

Over the years, Dos Amigos mentor finalists have told StartKleen’s leadership team that they’ve never owned a new car, that they’ve never had reliable transportation or that car trouble is a constant source of daily stress (StartKleen internal program records, 2019–2025). Those conversations shaped the decision to make a car the prize.

A new car removes a stressor that comes up every single day: the commute to a night shift, what happens when the old vehicle doesn’t start, whether a family member can get to work on time. For Vianai, it was an immediate change. For future winners, it will be the same.

Dos Amigos runs on the same logic: what you give someone should actually matter to them.