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Pitt State will have a lot of students on the road during the holiday breaks and Christian Automotive Majors wants to do their part in making sure that everyone arrives at their destination with no problems. The organization is offering students free vehicle safety inspections before they hit the highways.
On Saturday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m, members of Christian Automotive Majors (CAM) are volunteering their time and skills to perform safety checks on vehicles of students that reserve a time slot. Though CAM will not be performing any repairs on Nov. 6, any cause for concern found will be communicated to the student. CAM is also working with local car shops to give PSU students discounts on their vehicle repairs.
“Sometimes automotive gets a bad reputation of taking advantage of people and doing unnecessary repairs,” said Randy Jones, associate professor of automotive technology and student advisor of Christian Automotive Majors. “We want students to know that we have no skin in the game and we’re just looking out for them.”
Jones started the free safety inspections for students around eight years ago.
“Safety inspections usually involve brakes, tire wear, suspension components, belts, hoses, fluids, oil, air filters, and corrosion on batteries,” Jones said. “We go down a checklist and rate things red, yellow, or green, if it’s red it means it needs attention immediately… we’ll rate any safety items we check.”
This is an experience that will potentially be useful for the volunteers because standard overall safety checks are a common practice in the automotive industry.
“It also gives the kids good experience at interacting with people and practicing basic automotive skills they will use throughout their whole career,” Jones said.
Christian Automotive Majors is an organization that presents automotive and other technology majors the opportunity for fellowship and Bible study. The club was started by a student more than a decade ago.
“It is fun to see kids wanting to get engaged and involved in something…, and to see the growth in kids as the year goes along, this group does a good job of keeping them out of trouble,” Jones said.
Christian Automotive Majors meet every week over lunch to discuss scripture and upcoming events that they have planned for the semester.
“You don’t have to belong to the group to come join in, we want everybody involved. It’s all about reaching people and helping people out,” Jones said.
Their weekly meetings are held on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Kansas Technology Center.
“CAM also does a lot of fun things, we go to the Mo-Kan speedway, watch races, and cook out!” Jones said.
In order to sign up, email Ericka Ward (emward@gus.pittstate.edu) your name, phone number, and two or three 30 minute time slots you would be available for on Saturday, Nov. 6.