Wash for Life Event Gets Young Pro-Life People Helping Pregnant Women 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 5, 2006
Falls Church, VA (LifeNews.com) — Summertime in virtually any community finds American youth holding car washes to raise funds for a myriad of causes. But one new youth organization hopes to get teenagers and young adults on board to raise money for one of the most important pursuits — helping pregnant women who may be considering an abortion.
Wash for Life is a new organization dedicated to holding a national car wash day on September 16 for local pregnancy centers in every city in the U.S.
Spokesman John Cunningham tells LifeNews.com that the event "gives young people a chance to help the women and children in their community, while at the same time participating in a media event that tells the nation: the tide is turning — this generation is pro-life."
Cunningham says a car wash is an easy event that can allow pro-life young people to get involved in a national event without leaving their hometown. The organization helps local groups put on the event and publicize it.
He says all of the funds go directly to local crisis pregnancy centers that help women with a variety of pregnancy situations.
"The money stays local," Cunningham says.
He suggests local groups use the funds for a specific project or piece of equipment, such as an ultrasound machine, and Wash for Life will tabulate how much money each local event raises to come up with a national figure.
Kristen Hansen, a vice president at Care Net, a national network of pregnancy care centers, applauds the car wash effort.
"The Wash for Life initiative is proof that the pro-life movement is not only alive and well, but young, creative, and pro-active," she said.
"The globally aware youth of today want to do more than just protest — they want to be practical and innovative," Hanson explained. "By partnering with pregnancy centers, Wash for Life is connecting youth with the means of directly helping women choose life."
The organization hopes the national event will help the mainstream media realize that young adults are pro-life and willing to stand up for their beliefs.
"Most of America’s young people believe that abortion is wrong and that the women who are threatened by it should be helped," Cunningham says. "Sometimes all it takes is a project like this to inspire them with their own ideas."
"Our send-off message to those who participate on September 16 will be to use the enthusiasm it generates to find other ways to spread the culture of life," he said.
Polls show that Wash for Life’s event will probably do well since such a large number of young adults are opposed to abortion.
An April 2004 Zogby International poll found 51.6% of 18-29 year-olds call themselves "pro-life."
Though a majority call themselves pro-life, a much larger percentage actually take a pro-life position on abortion.
In the Zogby poll, 60 percent of 18-29 year-olds took one of three varying pro-life positions on abortion while only 39 percent agreed with the three pro-abortion stances. Some twenty-six percent of young Americans said abortions should never be legal.
Related web sites:
Wash for Life – https://www.washforlife.org
