Procedures for AHS Choral Boosters Car Wash:
Get Car Washes Scheduled:
1. Get dates from Choir Director by July 1, 2012 – earlier the better
2. Call Mr. Harrell (manager) at Ravensworth Sunoco at 703-321-8280 as soon as
you get dates from Choir Director (he only works 6 am to 10 am Monday through
Friday so you must call in morning.) You will set up the two Fall car wash
dates. He usually doesn’t have a calendar ready for the next year to reserve the
Spring ones.
3. Call Mr. Harrell in December to reserve dates for Spring car wash.
Be Sure You Have Materials Needed for Car Wash:
 Students to wash cars!
 Students to wave signs!
 Parents to direct!
 Sponges
 Car wash soap (get good quality Car Wash specific soap)
 Buckets
 2 hose splitters (so you can run two hoses at once… and you need TWO of them
in case someone runs over it with a car)
 2 sprayers for hoses
 Towels for drying
 Change ($10’s, $5’s, and $1’s)
 Signs for students to wave (posterboard)
 Signs to direct cars into wash
 Cones to reserve car spaces
 Extension hoses (in big garbage bin)
 Card table (Optional but VERY handy)
 Masking tape (Optional but VERY handy for taping sign in sheets to table)
 Pens to sign in
 Fanny/bum bag to hold receipts and donations.
 Large garbage bags (Hefty?) (to hold used and unused towels and to bag up trash
at the end)
 Water bottles for car washers (Buy at Safeway!!!) (very important to avoid heat
stroke, etc.)
 Some sort of snack item—I usually go with two kinds of cookies (Oreos and
Keebler chocolate chip as an example) to put out on table for workers.
 Cookies or donuts (optional) to give to Sunoco car inspection service department
as they get the hoses set up for us and are the manager’s representative. Nice
people!
 IMPORTANT - 2 pages of sign in sheets for students (this will go to Ms. Irish
and it counts towards their awards)
 IMPORTANT- 1 page sign in sheet for parents (to thank them)
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Receipts that allow person to fill in amount of donation. Receipts should show
next planned concerts. This doubles as advertising.
Sunscreen (optional but helpful)
Small, steady stool to reach top of cars (Optional but handy)
Battery operated radio (Optional but makes day go nicely)
Two weeks before a car wash:
1. Remind Choral director of upcoming car wash and need for students and parents.
2. Prepare email for AHSCB secretary to send out to parents and students.
3. Prepare car wash receipts and verify dates/times/locations for upcoming concerts
with Chorus Director
4. Check supplies and purchase anything needed (like sponges or soap)
5. Call to confirm date again with Sunoco gas station
6. Ask Chorus Director if there are Chorus T-shirts to sell to students (particularly
important for Spring car washes)
One week before:
1. Send notice to AHS student bulletin coordinator to advertise sale. (Moussessian,
Mariam A: mamoussessia@fcps.edu)
2. Check with AHS Choral Booster about parental volunteers. It is best to have
several at each shift (9:30-11:30) and (11:30-1:30)
3. Pick up T-shirts from Chorus Director
Night before:
1. Sometime between 10 pm and midnight, reserve 10 spaces next to Gas Station
Car Wash location using AHS Chorus orange cones.
2. Pack car with supplies for car wash next day
3. Make sure you have change for next day ($10’s, $5’s and $1’s)
Day of car wash:
1. Arrive at least 30 minutes prior to car wash
2. Set out sign in sheets and pens (useful to tape sheets to card table—otherwise they
can blow away)
3. Use someone’s trunk to hold towels. DO NOT USE METAL CARTS; Safeway
manager gets very angry. If you can keep towels dry and out of run off water
without carts, even better. BETTER YET, do not use ANY carts at all. Use card
tables or store items from back of someone’s vehicle.
4. Set up AHS Chorus Car Wash folding signs on street median and at entrance to
car wash.
5. Purchase or bring water bottles.
6. Purchase or bring snack for workers.
7. Use hose from gas station and add splitter and hoses and sprayers as needed.
8. Turn on water.
9. Fill some buckets with water and soap.
10. As students arrive, remind them to sign in.
11. Sell AHS chorus t-shirt to students (or parents) at price suggested by Chorus
Boosters. Keep money separate from Car Wash donations.
12. Ask parents to sign in on the parents’ sheet so you can thank them properly.
(There are some Hello My Name Is: badges if anyone wants to use them. )
13. Remind car washers that brushes are for wheels/hubcaps only. Sponges are for
body and windows. Squeegee is for windows only.
14. Remind parents that the kids are supposed to be washing the cars. Adults are
welcome to do so, but it is the kids’ responsibility. (Some help may be needed by
adults for tall vehicles or those requiring TLC)
15. Send two groups of kids out to wave in customers.
16. Check on “sign waving” kids now and then to be sure they are not “in traffic” or
doing anything dangerous
17. Change sign wavers as needed!
18. Remove a few cones as needed until business needs all 10 spaces.
19. Direct cars into spaces for car wash and tell kids which cars to wash and in what
order. (Strongly recommend having one parent keep a list of what order cars
come in. you can use car description or first three letters of license plate)
20. Suggest customers stay nearby (otherwise they go to into store and you lose car
wash space for a LONG time), perhaps in the shopping cart corral where it is
shady and they can sit and rest.
21. Dry off cars with clean towels. Hang wet towels over fence near gas station.
Don’t forget to collect them all when you leave!
22. Collect donation when wash and dry are completed. Donations of any amount are
requested. Sometimes the median amount has been $20.00, sometimes it has been
$10.00, and sometimes it has even been $5.00. The economy changes this a lot.
Chorus parents give the largest donations—usually $20 or more! Second are the
people who bring antique or “show cars” in.
23. Offer everyone a receipt. Tell them they also list our concert dates!
24. THANK THEM FOR COMING!
25. Bring in sign wavers 15 minutes prior to closing of car wash.
After car wash:
1. Turn off water
2. Bring gas station hoses back to gas station. Thank them. If you have a box of
cookies or something leftover (or sometimes I buy and reserve them), it is very
nice to give them to the Sunoco gentleman who works on Saturday and does
inspections. He has been very helpful to us.
3. Bag dry towels in garbage bags and bring back to storage for next car wash.
4. Collect wet towels and bag them in garbage bags and put in person’s car who is
delivering them to the cleaner (Dennis Rabinovitz) Do Not Mix Up Which Bag Is
Wet And Which Is Dry!
5. Collect ALL trash and recyclables into garbage bags and remove from site. DO
NOT leave trash in garbage or recycle bin at gas station or Safeway. Take it
home and dispose of it.
6. Collect all signs and bring back to storage for next car wash.
7. Collect all buckets, sponges, soap, etc for storage for next car wash.
8. Squeeze all water out of sponges
9. Drain hoses before storing
10. Put shopping carts (if used) back in cart collection “corrals”.
11. Wash sponges and dry to avoid mold. VERY IMPORTANT (I do this in my
home washing machine)
12. Immediately after car wash, deliver towels to Dennis Rabinovitz:
Dennis Rabinovitz (703) 503-0392
8307 Tollhouse Road
Annandale, VA 22003
SAY LOTS OF THANK YOUS!
13. Tell Dennis the address where to return the towels when they are clean (currently
it is to 7205 Beverly Street, Annandale, VA 22003 (Jessica Strong’s
grandmother’s home – but this will change for Fall 2012)
14. Total up donations and send a note to treasurer, Chorus Director and President of
AHS Chorus Boosters the night of the car wash
15. Deliver car wash money donations to Treasurer
16. Deliver T-shirt sales money to Treasurer
17. Deliver sign in sheets to President (Parents’ sheet) and Chorus Director (Students’
sheets)
18. Work with Chorus Booster president to send out email after the car wash to thank
volunteers and let them know the total earned.