When Laura Haynes asked a group of women about their interests, the answer she got back was something a little unexpected.
They wanted to learn more about their cars.
“We had a lot of response from women who are divorced or widowed and maybe they’re single, and they don’t know a whole lot about their cars, so they feel sort of intimidated,” said Haynes, the program coordinator for WomenSource.
After hearing from these women, Haynes helped organize a WomenSource program called “What’s Under Your Hood: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Vehicle,” which took place Thursday night at Milton Martin Honda.
WomenSource is a nonprofit resource for women in the community.
More than 40 people showed up to learn more about their cars’ care and maintenance. The event, which was fourth in the WomenSource summer series, had the most RSVPs out of all of this month’s programs, Haynes said.
She said women are very interested in the topic — especially if they’ve never had to deal with cars on their own before.
“Whether you’re just getting out of college and you’re on your own for the first time or if you’ve been married 30 years and your husband dies, I think it’s a really neat thing to offer for women,” Haynes said.
Attendees learned about checking their brakes, oil and tires. They even got to look at the inside of a car up close to see how the mechanics of the vehicle actually work.
But for LeTrell Simpson, WomenSource marketing chairwoman, it’s all about the preventative measures — making sure you have the right tools and resources when you’re in a difficult car situation.
“The main thing is just to be prepared,” Simpson said. “Being a single person, anything that I can learn to help me better take care of my car is great.”
Butch Miller, general manager for Milton Martin Honda, was happy to help connect the attendees with some important knowledge about a possibly unfamiliar topic.
“Women typically don’t grow up in an automotive environment,” he said. “When they go in to have work done, most of the terminology’s foreign to them.”
He hoped the event would help translate some of the language of the car industry for people who need to understand what’s going on with their vehicles.
“What we’re trying to do is to impart on them the knowledge and the background so that when they go get their car serviced, they’ll know what to ask for,” Miller said. “They’ll know when someone tells them something needs to be done, what the value of that service is.”
Former Hall County Commissioner Deborah Mack, who attended Thursday night, said the event was a great way to promote independence.
“I’m a very independent person,” Mack said. “I’ve been independent just about all my life.”
She’s been taking care of her own car since college — and it’s that level of savvy the WomenSource members were hoping to promote.
“It encourages you not to be afraid to get out there and try some things on your own,” Mack said. “Sometimes you go places to get your car serviced and they tell you this, this and this needs to be done when it doesn’t really need to be done. So if you have an idea yourself, you know what to expect.”