I believe in youth car washes. This is not something I ever had a strong opinion about before this weekend, but the action of a bunch of young men changed my mind. My boys are on a football team and they scheduled several car washes this Spring to raise money to help pay for summer camps and equipment. Our turn rolled around on Saturday so I found myself hanging out with about ten 17 year old guys who worked really hard for four straight hours in the blistering heat. Needless to say, I was impressed.So why is this a new revelation? I think because I was able to witness first hand the attitude these young men had about the job before them. In my opinion high school kids are old enough to take a leading role in their own fund raising, be it selling things or activities involving sweat equity such as this car wash. The young men that were washing cars on Saturday had a great attitude, which made them a pleasure to be around. Maybe it was because they enjoy hanging out with each other, maybe it was because the sun was shining and this beats homework, or maybe it was because some of them have a genuine interest in cars. It could have been all of the above.
There is one piece of this fund raiser I failed to mention - the deposit can drive. The boys literally recycled hundreds of cans and bottles. When you do this as a fund raiser, you get the stickiest, smelliest cans and bottles around. Whenever there was a lull in the car washing action, the young men fed the machines bottle after bottle. While I understand some guys like cars and washing them isn't much of a chore, no one likes doing can and bottle returns. Yet here these big guys were, working their way through bag after bag of donated deposit bottles. Talk about sweat equity.So the next time you see a youth car wash, drive up and let them work for a donation. Maybe they will do a great job, maybe they will miss some spots. Let them learn that we as a community will support them when they are willing to work.
