CHARLOTTESVILLE — The teens tightened their grips on their sledgehammers, deepened their stances and heaved the demolition devices above their heads before pummeling them onto the car below.
Eastern Hancock’s school grounds were filled with the sharp reverberations of metal smashing against metal, leaving the vehicle riddled with even more dents than it already had. Shattered glass littered the car’s interior from blows landed earlier that day.
The hammer handlers’ classmates, and even their teacher, looked on with approval.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThere was no foul play here, as the students were putting the car in bad shape for a good cause.
An Eastern Hancock High School senior organized the car smash to raise funds for a local mental health organization. The planner says it allowed him to accomplish a school project while also giving students an outlet to relieve testing stress as the school year nears its close.
Kyler Reeves, a senior at Eastern Hancock, said he came up with the idea for a car smash in his Jobs for America’s Graduates, or JAG, class. One of the course’s topics addressed spreading awareness on mental health, and Kyler said he thought a car smash fundraiser would be an effective way to do just that.
Greg Judy, Eastern Hancock JAG teacher, suggested raising the funds for Mental Health Partners of Hancock County, Kyler said. He added he was drawn to the organization because it’s local and a nonprofit.
As Kyler planned the project, he acquired a red 1999 Pontiac Sunfire donated by Hobbs Automotive.
“I just have to return the car back to him once I’m done,” Kyler said.
What’s left of it, anyway.
“It’s going to be hard to know what the car is,” he added.
Students pay $1 per hit and get to choose among two 8-pound sledgehammers, a small sledgehammer and a 22-ounce framing hammer.
The car smash started on Monday and is available to students all week. Kyler said students raised over $50 on the first day.
He and his classmates take turns overseeing the smash during the periods it’s available and sweep up afterward.
The car smash comes after the state’s ILEARN test, which students in grades 3 through sophomore take. Final exams are on the horizon. Kyler said going to town on a car with a hammer can ease the pressure that comes with the end of a school year.
“I know during testing, everybody’s stressed, and you got to have that way to get the stress out,” he said.
Kim Hall, executive director of Mental Health Partners for Hancock County, said she was surprised and grateful when she learned of Kyler’s project.
“I thought it was a pretty neat idea,” she said. “It’s unique.”
The organization partners with other agencies to fight addiction and promote mental wellness. It offers a Survivors of Suicide Support Group. Mental Health Partners of Hancock County also works with local courts on a Heroin Protocol program to help recovering addicts and provides initial intake fees along with clothing and bedding for participants in need.
Hall regularly visits Hancock County Jail inmates with mental illnesses and works with them when they are released to finds jobs, residences and fulfill other needs. The organization also partners with Families First by providing grant funds for individuals to receive counseling for anxiety, drug addiction, depression and other mental ailments.
Kyler’s and his classmates’ desire to help Mental Health Partners of Hancock County shows the respect they have for their community, Hall said.
“It makes me happy that we’re just a tight-knit community,” she said.
