Zombie Car Wash 2010

Let me start by telling you how it ended:

Metro’s Zombie Walk 2010 ended on Saturday night at 10:00 PM with about 30 volunteers dancing the Cupid (Cuban) Shuffle on the front drive of the Speedway Car Wash. It was a great (and appropriate) way to close out 5 days of an Event that seemed to have surpassed everyone’s expectations.

If you didn’t get a chance to stop by, let me say that the reviews we received were exceptional. I don’t think anyone anticipated the effort we put in, turning our car wash into a haunted-house-zombie-themed-ride. Those that did come said things like: “really amazing,” “so much more than I expected,” “too cool,” and “better than other haunted houses in town.” I’m not bragging here. I just want everyone to know that they missed out on something fun and entertaining so that they’ll be sure to come next year. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to combine the classic past-time of washing your car with a classic horror movie like George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (it was playing on the side of the building like a drive-in theatre, incidentally).

But the customers weren’t the only ones who had their expectations exceeded; yours truly did as well. And more than this, I can honestly say that I’m speechless with gratitude and pride at the Metro Car Wash Employees, Sahuaro High School Students, and participating businesses who sacrificed their time and services to make this Event a success.

Like any new project, we really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. We have a scholarship; we needed to raise money for it; and a Zombie Car Wash for Halloween seemed like a good idea. But once we began planning and designing and constructing, it became apparent just how large of a task we were faced with. We needed 40 volunteers per night for 5 nights; we needed help in getting the word out about the Event; and we needed supplies and props for the sets. And wherever there was a need, people came through in a big way.

So this week’s blog is more or less a Thank You. It’s a Thank You to all of the Students at Sahauro High School who listened to their teacher, Mr. Harkin, and gave up their plans night upon night to dress up like zombie’s and scare Tucson. It’s a thanks to my employees like Adam Villalobos, Juan Arellano, Melanie Romero, Gwen Valenzuela, Chris Hopper, Steven Hopper, Jacob Bacinski, Gabbi DeJesus, Izzy Lopez, Lorenzo Tambriz, Alex Ortiz-Uribe, and many more who not only worked all day at the car wash, but stayed on into the night to deliver a great show, help clean up, get no sleep, and go back at it again the next day. It’s also a Thanks to the volunteers like Ivan Nieto, Amanda Anyaeji, Josie at the Job Corps, and Les and Sarah Henson who aren’t employees or high school students, but felt that raising money to put a deserving kid through a year of college was a worthy enough cause to give up their personal nights and dress like road kill.

It’s also a big thanks to the businesses that helped us out.

Thanks to Heat Wave Productions and Joey Velasquez for DJ-ing nightly. You kept the party going, spirits high, and got zombies to dance … not an easy task (Metro Car Wash highly recommends Heat Wave’s services for any occasion, btw; you can contact them directly at 520-519-9379).

Thanks to Gary and Judy Tenen at Alphagraphics CPS for donating the 4,000 flyers that were dropped all over Tucson. Thanks to Sue Callahan at SignAge for donating the posters. And thanks to Julie Rustad at 24-7 Creative Solutions for designing such a great marketing piece to begin with.

Thanks to Tucson Weekly, the Arizona Daily Star, and Tucson Night Out for getting the Event coverage and helping to bring in more customers. And thanks to Jo Ann Mesa for volunteering to help contacting the same (your efforts were much appreciated).

I’m sure I’ve missed a lot of people deserving of thanks. I apologize in advance.

Like anything that takes a lot of effort, this was exhausting and I’m glad to say it’s over. But more importantly, I’m glad to know we raised enough money to put our first student through a year at Pima Community College next year. And more than this, I’m glad to know there are so many people in Tucson generous enough with their time and money to make something like this a reality.

I’m all zombied out folks, so until next time … stay clean my friends.

--DJ DripDry

Metro's New Scholarship Program

Consider this a follow up to last week's blog. Last week I mentioned that we were going to be launching a Metro Scholarship for at least one graduating Tucson high school student per year. This week, I thought it would be good to follow that up with a post from our upcoming press release on our one-of-a-kind fundraiser for the cause: Metro's Zombie Car Wash.

The press release is below. If you are a graduating high school student, are the parent of one, or just know one, be sure to pass this information along. We're really excited about this.

Haunted Car Wash promises thrills … and a scholarship

Haunted Houses are so yesterday. In today’s world of multi-tasking, why not get your car washed while you’re getting your Halloween haunting fix? At least that’s the idea local business Metro Car Wash has come up with in order raise money for their Metro/Harkin Scholarship Fund. They’re producing Metro’s Zombie Wash, which will be running on the five evenings leading up to Halloween from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM at the Company’s Speedway location.

The Company is utilizing over 40 volunteers to create a zombie-themed thrill ride. Patrons will remain in their cars, and as they are shuttled through the car wash (their vehicles receiving a professional cleaning), they’ll be treated to a veritable assault of ghastly zombies, the supposed result of a terrible government experiment gone wrong. Or something like that.

“A haunted car wash is something we’ve wanted to do for years,” said Sean Storer, co-owner of the Metro Car Washes in Tucson. “Now that we’re raising money for our Scholarship Fund, it seemed like the appropriate time to finally roll up our sleeves and make it happen.”

The scholarship is the Metro Car Wash/Harkin Scholarship, founded by the owners of Metro Car Wash, Sean Storer and Craig Celentano, and Jeremy Harkin, a high school English teacher at Sahuaro High School and Tucson’s 40 Under 40 Man of the Year (2009). Both Metro and Harkin have long been involved in the community and local charities. When Harkin, a Metro customer, and Storer began discussing their passion for education, they teamed up to form a unique Scholarship Program that will provide a minimum of one graduating high school student per year with the funding for at least one full year of tuition at Pima Community College.

“The extent to which the scholarship will reach,” said Harkin, “depends on the amount of money we raise. At a minimum, we will fund one student’s full-time course load for a full year. If we raise additional funds, then we’ll be looking at additional scholarships. We’ll also be looking at funding a second year of tuition for those scholarship recipients that do well in their first year at Pima.”

Application for the Metro Car Wash/Harkin Scholarship is open to all Tucson graduating high school students. Information and application instructions can be found at www.metrocarwash.com, www.metroscholarship.com, Pima Community College Foundation, or at either of the Metro Car Wash locations. Information on the Scholarship will also be available at the Zombie Wash.

“Ultimately, we’re hoping this event is something we can do every year,” said Storer. “Our intent is to keep sending students (who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity) to college year after year. With that being the goal then, we’ve really put a lot of work into making sure this Zombie Wash is a hit.”

The Zombie Wash opens on Tuesday, October 26 at 7:00 PM at Metro’s Speedway facility (located at 5150 E. Speedway Blvd., between Swan and Craycroft). It will run nightly until 10:00 PM through Saturday the 30^th. The cost to ride through the wash is $10 per car (cash and credit cards accepted). From the safety of your vehicle, you’ll then be treated to a car wash, as well as a good-old, hair-raising zombie attack. In addition, there will be a live DJ, refreshments, costume contest, raffles, and more. Further information on Metro’s Zombie Wash can be found at www.metrocarwash.com, www.zombiewash.com, or by calling Metro Car Wash at 520-795-9600. Proceeds from the event will go to the Metro Car Wash/Harkin Scholarship Fund, which will begin sending students to Pima Community College in 2011.

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A Bad Economy, Charities, and A Haunted Car Wash

The economy stinks. Nothing more really needs to be written on this topic. If you don’t hear it every day in the news, all you have to do is sit on a Metro Car Wash patio and listen to customers mutter about it (often with yours truly joining in). Just about every business owner I talk to these days is still down; it’s a scary time for most of us.

That being said, I think that in many ways it’s an even scarier time for charitable institutions. First, in tough economic times, demand often rises on charitable organizations. At the same time, funding and charitable giving declines. Moreover, charitable organizations can’t adapt to a challenging economy as quickly as for-profit businesses. A business can discount prices, or make an effort to offer more service; but charitable organizations, for the most part, are still relegated to waiting for our altruistic impetus to strike us. And let’s face it: with fewer dollars in our pockets, it’s a lot harder to feel philanthropic.

For any of you who know us well, you know Metro Car Wash has always had a fairly large focus on local charities. We do this for two reasons: first, we believe that it’s important to be involved in the community and second, it’s also a part of our marketing philosophy. But regardless of our efforts, we’ve noticed a significant decline in the use of our charitable programs … and our programs don’t cost a person anything (go to our Fundraising Page at www.metrocarwash.com to learn how charitable organizations can receive 15% of participating Metro Car Wash Sales).

We partner with over 20 Charitable Organizations in Tucson; unfortunately, activity related to almost all of them is down in comparison to our car counts. Since our car counts are down too, this means it’s a double whammy for these not-for-profits. You don’t need to be a bleeding heart to say this is concerning.

And of course, leave it to us to pick this time to launch a brand new charity—right into the teeth of our tight wallets. Yup, we’re picking now to begin raising money for our Pima Community College Scholarship. We’re going to be sending a minimum of one student per year, who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity, to a full year at Pima Community College. We’re very excited about this, but we also understand that tough economic times mean we’re going to have to get creative with our fundraising.

Creative we can do.

We've decided to pick this blog to be the official announcement for what we believe will be a very fun fundraiser. Coming this October, Metro Car Wash will be hosting a Haunted Car Wash at our Speedway location. That’s correct, folks: Tucson’s first haunted car wash … Metro’s Zombie Wash.

More information will be coming shortly to our website (and Facebook and Twitter), but I wanted to take this opportunity to let you in on our plans. For the five evenings before Halloween, Metro Car Wash will be host to zombies, terror, and mayhem (from 7pm to 10pm). If wallets are tight (and of course they are), then we want to give as much value back to you as we can for helping us raise money for this scholarship. This Halloween, we figure if we can scare you and clean your car at the same time, you won’t even miss those few dollars. And if you do think about them (the missing dollars), then feel good knowing they went to help put a student through one year of college.

Times are tough. But we’re not ready to give up. We hope you’re not either. And you can really help us by giving Metro’s Zombie Wash a little promotion. As we get closer to the date, Metro would really appreciate your spreading the word. More information to come.

And until then, stay clean my friends!

DJ DripDry