SUMC teens help to set Guinness car wash world record
It is not unusual for teenagers to wash cars to raise money. When the kids at Southside United Methodist Church needed to earn funds for their Guatemala Mission Trip, adult organizer Joe Honeycutt decided to take it to the next level.
On April 27, teens in SUMC’s youth program joined with groups from 159 NAPA Auto Parts stores nationwide to set a new Guinness World Record of “most cars washed in eight hours, multiple locations.” The church team washed cars at the NAPA store located at 5828 University Blvd., one of three NAPA stores in Jacksonville to contribute to the Guinness effort.
“I figured if any church could do it, we could do it,” said Honeycutt, a Colonial Manor resident who joined with San Marco’s Amy Franks, SUMC director of student ministries, in coordinating the event.
SUMC washed 120 of the 137 cars from all three Jacksonville NAPA locations contributing to NAPA’s nationwide total of 7,179 cars, said Honeycutt. The total blew away the former record of 6,277 cars achieved by 89 Repco stores in Australia and New Zealand on Oct. 27, 2012. Repco and NAPA are both associated with Genuine Car Parts (GPC) of Atlanta.
“I learned there is an art to washing cars. There is an order to it,” said Austin Franks, a sophomore at Wolfson High School.
Liz Leuthold of San Marco, who volunteered to serve as a witness and timekeeper, also took the opportunity to hone her rusty car-washing skills. “The last time I washed cars was when I was a cheerleader in junior high. It’s good to see the community at work together for a cause.”
The SUMC teams raised $1,418 during the car wash to support two youth mission teams that plan to travel to Guatemala this summer. Added to $100 in pre-sold tickets, $50 using the church’s text-giving process, plus around $2,800 in challenge pledges, Honeycutt estimated the teens have collectively raised more than $4,200 through the car-wash effort.
“We couldn’t have done it without NAPA letting us participate in their Guinness World record attempt,” Honeycutt said. “That gave us the buzz and extra motivation to push a normal $5 carwash to a different level that averaged $35 per car. Truth be told, you can get a much better $5 basic carwash at the new Gate Express, but no one could have more fun than all the volunteers, NAPA employees and car owners had. We couldn’t have done it without the help of 56 volunteers who contributed almost 200 hours on a Saturday, plus several volunteers working for several weeks ahead of time. And we couldn’t have done it without using Nextdoor and Facebook, which helped in recruiting volunteers and getting cars to NAPA.”
Local volunteers included in the carwash effort were Amelia, Laurel and Decker Day; Elizabeth Lucarelli, Angie, Henry, Christian, Kendall and Chip Cosper; Elijah Simpkins, Ascher Spottswood; Cody and Ellie Barksdale; Sarah, Eric, and Madison Lane; Josh Thiele; Emily Webb; Michael and Andrew Yates; Kassidy Taylor; Carrie, Mark, Cait and Macie Sowell; Tommy and Madelyn Marmo; Melissa and Joey Franke; Jake and Grant Tedder; Tiffany Mossuto; Austin, Amy, John and Peyton Franks; Caroline and Connor Posgay; Jackson and Max Berzsenyi; Caine Burleson; Caleb Haller; James and Catherine Cox; Isabel Burke; Gabby Shoraka; Layla and Sophia Brown; Delaney and Cooper Hayman; Leila Jane Davis.
Serving as local witnesses and timekeepers served on behalf of Guinness including Rick Kadlick and Montelle Trammell (co-leaders), Starr Kadlick, Duane and Liz Leuthold, Kathy O’Neill, Carl Giora and Sharon Kelley. Trammell, a San Jose resident and former school principal, already has a Guinness World Record for “most popcorn popped” which took place at her school, Honeycutt said.
By Marcia Hodgson
Resident Community News
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