The initiative of automotive technology students at Louisa County High School in Mineral, Virginia. «It is not simply a scholastic exercise, it has a solidarity value»
For eight years now it has happened more or less four or five times every year: at a certain point the garage door opens and a class of young students delivers a newly refurbished car to a single mother. With a nice red bow on it. And a big round of applause. It happens at Louisa County High School in Mineral, Virginia. An hour’s drive northwest of Richmond. The school’s automotive technology students repair donated used cars and then give them to single moms who need a ride. “The whole course is very rewarding,” 16-year-old Holden Pekary told the Washington Post, “and this initiative gives you a greater sense of purpose.”
About 20 students work on the cars each semester. The teacher, Shane Robertson, teaches kids how to repair brakes and tires, change fluids, test batteries and maintain heating and cooling systems. “They get the real grit behind why they’re actually doing a task,” Robertson said in an interview with the ABC network: “It’s not just a classroom exercise, this is someone’s real car and you’re really changing the world.”
The program was created in collaboration with the non-profit organization Giving Words, a local charity that supports single parents by providing free vehicles and car repairs.
Founder Eddie Brown and his wife were both single parents who had struggled with transportation before launching the nonprofit. “So far we have given away more than 60 cars and have repaired more than 260,” Brown told WTVR. In addition to Louisa County High School, Giving Words also partners with individual owners and repair shops in the area to obtain additional vehicles donated. One of the program’s success stories involves a 2007 gold car donated by students to Jessica Rader, a single mom with three children and a long struggle to overcome addiction.
Before receiving a car as a gift, she relied on rides from friends and family for all the commitments, appointments and activities that come with motherhood. Now, also thanks to the car, she has gone from a part-time job to a full-time one. And she manages to reconcile work with her life as a mother. “It’s not just about the car, it’s about the community,” Jessica told the Washington Post: “A group of guys I had never met in my life cared about me enough to work hard to build a vehicle and ensure the safety of me and my children. When I met them it was an unforgettable moment.”
