Rankin Inlet (Aug 02/06) - If you soap it, they will come. That was the rallying call behind a fundraising car wash in Rankin Inlet this past week.

The event was held in support of the Rankin Inlet Youth Centre.

Acting youth director Kandace Kusugak said 10 kids enroled in summer programs at the centre and two supervisors took part in the fundraiser.

The group held the car wash in front of the fire station from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

They charged $10 per vehicle and raised $397.01 for their efforts.

Kusugak said the car wash started off a little on the slow side, but picked up as the afternoon wore on.

She said a late rush of vehicles during the final 90 minutes helped make the event a success.

"We plan to use the money we raised to buy equipment for the centre such as chalk for the pool tables, and purchase cleaning supplies and snacks for the kids," said Kusugak.

"If there's anything left, our ping pong table is broken and we could look at, maybe, putting the remainder towards that."

Although a number of bingo games are held throughout the year to raise funds for the youth centre, staff members wanted to come up with something a little different for the kids to participate in.

Kusugak said they decided to go ahead with a car wash so the kids could have a little fun while raising money for their centre.

Those who took part in the event were the older kids at the centre, aged nine to 12, she said.

"They did a good job and really had a lot of fun at the car wash.

"We had quite a few buckets of water thrown around during the afternoon, and the pressure washer seemed to get accidentally pointed in someone's direction every now and then.

"There were a lot of wet sponges flying around from time to time.

"We got a lot of tips from people whose vehicles we washed. It's always nice when people do something a little extra to help the kids."