Fresno City College students were given a great opportunity to tune up their car and help clean up the valley air.
ValleyCAN once again held the Fresno ‘Tune in and Tune Up’ Sept 17, an event that gave people the chance to have their car checked out for free. The event also gave the students of FCC’s Auto Technology Department an opportunity to “gain diagnostic experience,” said Nestor Galvan, a student working at the event since 7 a.m. that day.
He added that he and his fellow classmates “were learning to communicate.” Students enrolled in the program learn to enter the field of the Automotive Service Industry, where customer service and communication is crucial. They also gained hands on experience.
But students weren’t the only people benefiting from this event. It was ValleyCAN’s goal to identify high-emitting vehicles, determine if they’d pass smog, and get them help with repairs. Out of 351 cars tested 229 failed. And the cars that failed were able to be repaired.
The event had a free barbeque and even recycle bins to collect all the cans and bottles. It was also filled with community booths such as The City of Fresno Solid Waste Division, The Bureau of Automotive Repair, A1 Auto, The Lung Association, The Fresno Area Express (FAX) Clean Air Bus, and many others. All participating and doing their part to make the event happen.
The event was covered by ABC, CBS, and Univision which gave the program loads of support for more things to come. Even FAX brought out a bus giving tours to those who took part. And for those who were getting their cars fixed, FAX handed out free bus passes.
Overall at the end of the day it was marked a success. Proud supporter Jack Lewis said, “You need to do this to clean up the air,” and added, ” I think it’s a very positive thing to do. For the people with bad cars, and for the air.”
Another goal for ValleyCAN was to “engage whoever we could to clean up the valley,” said ValleyCAN representative Erica Hubbard. When it came to the cleaning of the Fresno Valley air Hubbard said,”We all need to take action.”