Church reopens car clinic to service single moms, widows after two-year hiatus | News

The heat blazed as mechanics fulfilled their volunteer obligation — fixing cars to prepare for winter, no matter how many they had to work on.

Laura Street Baptist Church hosted its second car clinic 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 6 after a two-year hiatus. The clinic provides free car services for single mothers and widows in the community who sign up, including oil changes, battery replacements and brake inspections. The services aimed to safely prepare vehicles for the wintertime.

Maryville community member Shelina Ferguson is a single parent, and heard of the event through Big Brothers Big Sisters. She said she is thankful for any sort of help she receives from the community.

“I don’t know what all they (Laura Street Baptist Church) do, but I’m thankful for whatever,” Ferguson said. “They asked if I needed anything done, I said I really didn’t know what my vehicle needed, but I knew that I was close for an oil change, and so I’m grateful for that.”

Laura Street Baptist Church coordinated with AutoZone to help provide parts and services. The total cost of the parts donated totaled nearly $20,000.

Cale Sterling, an employee at AutoZone, worked as the shop manager during the event. He called in orders for parts as needed to help repair vehicles. He said the church had great success with the event two years ago and wanted to bring it back.

“I’m not sure why, but they weren’t able to do it last year,” Sterling said. “Whenever I came into the church — I had joined in my Bible Study — we had been talking about stuff we can do to help the community out.”

Sterling said 14 cars were worked on at the clinic two years ago. The number of participants doubled this year with an estimated 28 slots filled. He said he had more parents-in-need on call in case the clinic had the space and time to accommodate them.

Since the car clinic was a big success, Sterling hopes it will happen next year, and he said he is ready to help out again.

One mechanic at the event, Kenneth Browning, is from Patton, Missouri, but goes to Laura Street Baptist Church with his girlfriend, who had told him about the car clinic.

Browning drove an hour for the event. He expressed his desire to use his skills to help women in the community.

“I just hate to see when women who can’t afford to maintain their car, you know, (are) going to the wintertime with inadequate stuff,” Browning said. “I like working on stuff.”

He said this event takes a lot of stress off those who cannot afford regular services to maintain their vehicles, and he was happy to help.

Melissa Trickle is a volunteer helping with food to serve to mothers who stop by alone or with their children. She said she has enjoyed caring for the children at this pop-up, allowing mothers a space to relax during hard times. She watched the children as the mothers relaxed inside the church while their cars underwent servicing.

She said she thinks other communities and churches should offer similar services to help the public, knowing what a big difference it makes in Maryville.

“I think there’s a need for it in our community,” Trickle said. “You know, not everybody has somebody that can fix their car for them. People do need that in our community.”

Browning said he felt the same way, and is open to participating in future service opportunities similar to the one by Laura Street Baptist Church.

Sterling said free community events allow those in need to focus their finances on other priorities that may be more important. He said it was a blessing to help others in his community, and has enjoyed it so far.

Ferguson said the church should consider hosting this event again in the future, since it allowed her some relief regarding her car. She said she hopes it will do the same for others in the future.

“With being a single parent, any little bit helps,” Ferguson said. “I think it’s amazing.”