If you think that bikini car washes are a great idea, then you are going to love Newton Health Care Center’s “Topless” Car Wash.
On Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at NHCC, volunteers will wash everything but the top of your car for a freewill donation to support their Relay for Life team.
“It’s pretty successful. Last year we made over $500,” NHCC social worker Andrea Shepard said. “We have a lot of fun and lot of volunteers who help out. It seems to be our biggest Relay for Life fundraiser. We do a bake sale and some other fundraisers, but they don’t seem to be as successful as the car wash.”
Raising $500 last year was a pretty significant accomplishment for NHCC.
“It’s always a lot of fun,” Shepard said. “Last year it was cold and it rained, but people still came. We had (people) out in the driveway with signs yelling, ‘Come on!’”
Shepard and another NHCC employee first came up with the idea for the topless car wash four years ago.
“Kim Judge, the (NHCC) activity director and I, we seem to team up on everything,” Shepard said. “Whatever fundraiser we do, Kim and I, we kind of seem to be the team captains.”
While Shepard admits the car wash is fun, she said the main motivation is to support their team.
“NHCC has their own Relay for Life team, and we’ve had many patients and staff members have cancer, fought cancer, survived cancer, and lost to cancer,” Shepard said. “So our team walks for our loved ones, which includes our patients.”
Relay for Life will take place on June 7, and Shepard encourages community members to come out and support the event that will be held at H.A. Lynn Stadium. The NHCC team will be manning a pie-in-the-face contest.
“For a donation, anyone can put a pie in (our) face,” Shepard said. “We’re making the pies and taking the donations. Nothing like a meringue facial.”
NHCC is located at 200 S. Eighth Ave. E in Newton.
Staff writer Ty Rushing may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 426, or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.