A Clean Car Does a Body Good!

For the entire month of May, select Super Wash® car washes hosted a FoodRaiser to raise money for local food pantries. $42,550 was collectively raised with an average donation of $250.00 made to each participating food pantry. All of the money raised will stay in the local community to benefit local families.

Bob Black, Co-Founder and CEO of Super Wash, Inc. remarked, “So many really wonderful people and hard-working families are struggling right now through no fault of their own. I began my career as a high school biology teacher, so it is particularly hard for me to grasp how many kids are going hungry, especially during the summer when school is out. We are so pleased to be able to make a positive difference in some small way through our FoodRaiser.”

On their website, Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, states, “For every $1.00 donated Feeding America can provide 7 meals to men, women and children facing hunger in our country.” While food procurement and distribution challenges alter the number of meals, or pounds of food, that a $1.00 donation can provide in different parts of the country, it is notable that in Omaha, NE $1.00 donated to a local food pantry can buy $9.00 worth of food and in northeast Indiana $1.00 can buy 5.5 pounds of food.

Founded by Bob and Mary Black in 1976, Super Wash is the nation’s largest car wash franchisor/operator with 305 locations in twenty-one states. Visit www.superwash.com to find the Super Wash closest to you.

So Many Without Food

For purchases made in the month of May, Super Wash will donate $1.00 for every "Super Wash" automatic car wash and $1.50 of every 4-token package to local food pantries. We recognized a great need that we hope to be able to help fill in some small way, and what we have learned along the way has been very powerful. Did you know there are many families, kids particularly, right here in this country who go extended periods of time without eating? I learned that summer is one of the highest demand periods for Food Pantries because kids are not in school where they would otherwise have gotten state-funded lunch. As a kid growing up in a small farming community in western Illinois, I always cheered for snow days in the winter, even if we had to make them up later on. Do you know who doesn't root for a snow day? Kids who will not eat that day because they are not in school. Many of these kids do not have sufficient nutrition over weekends for this very same reason.

We have been so fortunate to talk with the wonderful volunteers who keep these Food Pantries running. What wonderful work they are doing! I got shivers the day we heard, "You have just answered a prayer for us." We are so grateful to be able to help local families in the communities we serve.

Please consider making a donation to your local Food Pantry - no matter the time of year. Food is great, cash is always welcome (in many communities, they use the cash to buy vouchers to the local grocery stores so families can buy perishable items the Food Pantry can't readily provide) and volunteered time is a very valuable commodity. These are tough times for many Americans. Let's commit to making a positive difference this May, and always! Until next time, have a super week!