Car Wash! by Julie Wicher, Sirens Half Back Perspectives Editorial Volume 3, Issue 2 October 25, 2003 When I was little I used to have to sell pepperoni sticks as a fundraiser for my school. I started playing little league softball when I was 8 and for the next several years we had car washes every weekend so we could afford jackets and bags for when we traveled. In junior high and high school we sold coupon books to pay for our yearly band trip (yes I was in band). In my senior year we sold brownies to help pay for our senior trip. Once I graduated from high school I thought I had graduated from fundraising too. I knew that one day I would have kids and would have to spend my fair share of money to support my kids and their “good” causes. I have also never been one to turn down a girl scout when the cookie season comes around. I, however, thought my days of car washes and other fundraisers to support myself or a group I was in were over. Then came the Sirens. I often wonder what people must think as they drive by a grown woman standing on a street corner wearing a football helmet and yelling at them to stop and get their car washed. Most people still have no idea who the Sirens are or even that Sacramento has a professional women’s football team. I sometimes feel a little foolish when there is a group of 10 year olds at the corner across from us having a car wash as well. I’m waiting for the day when one of their parents walks over to us and complains that we are taking money away from their sweet little child’s good cause. It’s almost sad to think about how much time and effort we put in as compared to the amount of money we actually raise. On a good day we may bring in $200 for 5 hours of washing. If there are 20 of us out there, that breaks down to $2 an hour per person. Fortunately when we’re out there we do not think about things like this; we look at the big picture. Although hundreds of cars drive by and very few actually stop, that is still hundreds of people who see us, who read our signs and who hear our name for the first time. People that actually stop may have no idea who the Sirens are, but by the time they leave they have heard our name and seen our faces and if nothing else, they know what a hard-working group we are. They also now know Sacramento has a women's football team and even if they never attend a game, they may mention us to someone else who will. The best form of advertising for us has been word of mouth. It takes a long time to reach people, but talking is free and you know that those that are talking about the team must have some interest in one form or another. One of my favorite things to say when I was young was “I can’t help it if my ears want to listen.” In reality, no one can help hearing things. When there is an add in the paper you can skip right over it or close your eyes, but when someone is talking about something you can’t really close your ears. In the future hopefully we won’t have to spend multiple weekends working at car washes to raise money for our team. It would be great to go out and wash cars for free sometime; to donate our time to those that have donated money to get us started and keep us going. Until then we’ll continue to wash those cars for pennies at a time. In the long run it really adds up and just like playing football, we wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun. Perspectives Archives