SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Anne Marie Giroux has never changed the oil in her car.

The single mother of three is planning a trip to Fort Smith as one of the directors of a girls' camp there this summer and doesn't want to spend big bucks going to a mechanic before she leaves.

Raymond Bourget said he's just "mechanically inclined" while he helped change oil and explain engine functions for single mothers at the Church of Christ's "Love Yk" event on Saturday. - Katie May/NNSL photo

"I would do it if I knew how," she said, stepping out of her 1990 Pontiac Bonneville.

"I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty but I don't know what I'm getting my hands dirty into - that's the big thing."

Giroux is exactly the kind of person the Yellowknife Church of Christ set out to help last weekend with an "oil changes for single moms" day for its Love Yk project, part of a national "love your city" campaign that calls on local churches to do good deeds. Roughly 12 volunteers helped to change vehicle oil, barbecue and watch kids in the church parking lot on Saturday.

Six Yellowknife churches participated in the campaign, including the Yellowknife Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Calvary Community Church, the Salvation Army, Holy Trinity Anglican Church and Yellowknife Pentecostal Tabernacle. They held free barbecues, car washes, gave away baked goods, planted flowers and cleaned up at the Aven Manor seniors' home.

Mark Switzer, one of the organizers, said the Church of Christ wanted to do something different.

"Single parent families probably don't have a lot of time on their hands. Sometimes cash is an issue. And with single moms, changing oil can be intimidating," he said, adding though they focused on single moms, everyone is welcome.

"There's no real limitation. If people come in wanting their oil changed, we won't turn them away."

By noon on Saturday, volunteers had changed oil in five cars. Two of those cars were Giroux's.

"I'm getting spoiled - I brought two vehicles," she laughed. "It'll save all that extra time and money on the oil change. It's kind of empowerment for us, getting to learn what they're doing," she said as volunteer Raymond Bourget explained some of her car's functions under the hood.

"It's totally awesome."