RDAU_2026-ISSUE0809_DIGITAL MAGAZINE

ANDREW WOOLFOLK/LOUISA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS VIA WASHINGTON POST The Best Kind of Auto Care A learning experience for students leads to freedom for single mothers BY Sydney Page from the washington post 100   August/september 2026 EVERYDAY HEROES reviving timeworn vehicles and giving them to single mothers for free. The giveaway program is done in partnership with Giving Words, a local nonprofit that supports single mothers, mainly through car repairs and donations. “A broken-down car means she can lose her job, miss her appointments,” says Eddie Brown, who founded Giving Words with his wife, Ginny Brown, in 2018. Single mothers are relying on Ubers, buses and family, “and some of those can be unreliable,” he says. The Browns were both single par- ents before they met. “The idea came from our own experiences being single parents and struggling with transportation issues,” Eddie says. He taught himself how to do simple car repairs and soon began fixing other people’s cars in his driveway. Eddie and Ginny focused on help- ing single mothers because around 80% or more of single parents in the United States are mothers. The Browns formed partnerships with local repair shops, as well as Louisa County High School and Charlottesville Area Tech- nical Education Center, to be able to do more repairs and help more women. The cars are donated by in- dividuals and automotive businesses. Since its inception, Giving Words has provided more than 60 cars to single mothers in need of a vehicle. High school students worked on about half of those cars, and the rest were refurbished by repair shops. J essica Rader knew she was get- ting a car. Still, when the keys to a 2007 gold Prius were handed to her, she wept. “It’s not just about the car,” says Rader. “It’s about community.” Students at Louisa County High School in Mineral, Virginia, spent several months repairing and refur- bishing the car before they presented it to Rader, a single mother of three. For the past eight years, students enrolled in the school’s automotive technology program have been Student Caleb Ashburn performs an oil change during an automotive technology class. readersdigest.com.au     101