Having to change a flat tire or jumpstart a battery can be stressful for any new driver, but especially for teenage girls stuck on the side of the road alone.
Which is why Rachael Wacha, owner of City Auto Repair in Gainesville, and other women took time to demonstrate basic car repairs to a group of nine girls at her shop.
“Can you see on the inside of where my finger is? That is the pad life that’s left,” Wacha said as she showed the kneeling girls how to check the viability of brakes that are still attached to a wheel. “You have to kind of get down and dirty to see it.”
Dream on Purpose, a local nonprofit focusing on empowering girls ages 11-18, held its first “Cupcakes and Conversations: Car Care 101” event recently to help them know what to do in an emergency. A few of the girls’ mothers were also on hand and taking notes as well.
Steffanie Crockett, a Dream on Purpose board member, also helped lead the discussion. A mechanic’s daughter who has also worked at a local automobile dealership and another car service shop, Crockett went over various car fluids, how an air filter should look, and what different symbols mean if they pop up on the dashboard.
“I want to be able to teach these girls how to handle those emergency situations, not just jump off the deep end of worry,” said Crockett, who now works as a freelance photographer.
Wacha also showed the attendees how to check the oil level in a car, where the spare tire can be located, how the thread of a tire is measured, how to jump start a battery and more.
“The shop was my dad’s, and he was always my resource,” she said. “Not everybody has that. And so that’s why I think I’m passionate about doing this, because I want everybody to have the resource – and that resource be themselves.”
Along with cupcakes and refreshments, the attendees had to take a quiz to test their knowledge.
Dream on President Shareen Baptiste helped co-found the organization nine years ago to foster individuality in girls and increase their knowledge base. It has several volunteer-led programs focusing on topics ranging from college discoveries to filmmaking to cooking.
As for the car repairs event, Baptiste said: “It makes me feel great knowing that we are arming our young ladies with knowledge and information. They don’t have to be on the side of the road waiting for help, or waiting for someone to pull over and to help them.”
Meredith Fuller, 17, a senior at Buchholz High School, said the car conversations will no doubt prove useful if she’s ever in an emergency if she leaves for college and is away from home.
“I didn’t know the different fluids of cars before and stuff like that,” Fuller said. “It’s helping me feel a lot more confident in my ability as a human with a car to take care of it.”
Wacha’s daughter, Ocean 9, a fourth grader at Melrose Elementary School, also enjoyed the experience. “I did not think this many girls would show up; it was a surprise,” Ocean said. “But I did learn a lot of things, like you have to tighten your bolts in a star shape.”