CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FIRST METRO/HARKIN SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

It was only a year ago that we dreamed up the idea of the Metro-Harkin Scholarship: a unique program that would pay for one complete year of schooling at Pima Community College for one deserving Tucson high school graduate. Twelve months later, the Scholarship has been established, funds have been raised, a crazy Zombie Wash was let loose in Tucson, and Terrence Peel-Charles has been awarded the first ever Metro-Harkin Scholarship for the 2011-2012 academic year.

For those of you who need a little reminding, the Metro-Harkin Scholarship is open to any graduating Tucson high school student. The aim of the Scholarship is to provide a higher education for hard-working and hard-studying individuals who might not otherwise have the means to attend college. The Scholarship was created by the owners of Metro Car Wash and Jeremy Harkin a high school English teacher.

So … for this blog, we thought we’d share a little from our upcoming press release with you. We’re proud to introduce you to Terrence, Metro’s first-ever Scholarship winner …

From the Press Release: Marana Student Wins Metro/Harkin Scholarship

Terrence Peel-Charles (18) is a recent graduate of Marana High School. He earned a 3.4 GPA, was active in Key Club, volunteered for various charity events including Aids Walk and the Special Olympics, and worked part time as an after-school Classified Enrichment Instructor. Perhaps most notably, Terrence received an opportunity his Junior Year to participate as a foreign exchange student in Germany. He didn’t know the language, had never taken a German class, and knew no one in the Country. Still, none of this stopped him from packing his bags, leaving the comforts of his family and friends, and heading to Europe for a year of his life – an intimidating scenario for anyone, but an experience that helped him grow significantly into adulthood.

“Living in Germany helped me learn things about myself I didn’t even know,” says Terrence. “The most difficult task in my life was to grasp the German language. I had to learn German at a very fast pace to survive at school. I got home from class, took out my homework and my German-to-English dictionary and translated the whole assignment for hours on end until I understood it.”

In addition to challenging him educationally, Terrence claims the experience has also made him “a more worldly person”, more aware of cultural differences (and how to navigate those barriers), and more understanding of what it means to be alone and have only yourself to depend on. These, in turn, have now shaped his goals for the future.

“I came back to America with something to prove to myself,” says Terrence. “I’ve learned there is really no challenge I can’t handle. I want to become a doctor, hopefully one that can travel abroad. And I’m not going to let any obstacles get in my way, financial or otherwise.”

Terrence is now planning to attend Pima Community College for two years before transferring to the University of Arizona. He is extremely grateful for the Metro-Harkin Scholarship, a program that will pay entirely for his first two semesters at Pima. In addition to his own education, Terrence also holds a part time job teaching children in an after-school program (holding a part time job during the academic year is a requirement of the Metro Scholarship).

“We had a lot of great applicants,” said one member of the committee that selected the recipient. “There were interesting stories, unique backgrounds – a bunch of deserving kids, really. The selection process was difficult, but in the end, Terrence was the clear winner.”

The Metro-Harkin Scholarship is funded by Metro Car Wash, as well as through donations they receive. Last year, the Company raised the lion’s share of the Fund by hosting Tucson’s first ever “Zombie Car Wash.” The charity event turned Metro’s Speedway location into a haunted theme-ride for one week in October and was met with rave reviews. The Company is planning on another Zombie Car Wash this fall; this time around Terrence will be helping.

Terrence’s selection as the Scholarship Winner was based on a committee’s cumulative score that was comprised of his grades, his scholastic attendance record, extracurricular participation, two essays, and a final interview. The Metro-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.

(Terrence Peel, 2011)

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

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