'Turning Wrenches, Turning Lives'

Posted 1/5/2008
By Terry Legan

Perhaps by now you have heard of Auto Mission. There have been stories about us in AutoInc., including a really good one in October 2004 called "Turning Wrenches, Turning Lives."

John Scully, left, executive vice president of ASA, and Ron Pyle, ASA president, break down boxes at the Tarrant County Food Bank.

Auto Mission, which I founded in January of 2004, is a nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to changing lives through auto repair and the Christian gospel. With donated tools and volunteer technicians, the mission teaches troubled teens how to repair cars while leading them to make the right choices for their lives. The vehicles they repair are donated to local battered women's organizations or sold to pay for expenses such as rent, utilities and staff.

Auto Mission is one of the missions run by members of North Pointe Baptist Church in Hurst, Texas. It's only for boys. Mission Makeover, also run through North Pointe, involves girls with the Fort Worth Quilt Guild to make quilts for battered women's shelters and for newborns at the county hospital. My wife, Sherry, is in charge of Mission Makeover.

We have a lot of fun, but we never forget that we're here to help them. We're serious about it because we are focused on life repair as much as auto repair. We try to ensure that these kids will turn their lives around and become productive citizens. We're hopeful that many of these kids will become essential contributors of tomorrow's work force. And let me say that many of these youngsters decide they like repairing cars and want to go on to a technical school.

Keeping the missions going takes tremendous support, strong financial backing and a lot of faith in God.

Most sincerely, we appreciate ASA's support. Not the least of that support is the fact that members of ASA's staff regularly volunteer their time to work at the Tarrant Area Food Bank, sorting grocery items that have been donated. We work there too. And together, we accumulate enough hours that it enables some of our needy teens and their families to go there and get food for their tables.

We're excited about the new year and opportunities to help troubled youths. We plan to continue our mentoring program for teenage girls at Willoughby House, a halfway house in Fort Worth. We're recruiting mentors in other Texas cities, including Houston. And we will keep on providing a job training program for troubled teens.

If you are interested in what we are doing and would like to help in any way, please get in touch with me. I'd like to talk to you.

You may telephone me at (800) 272-7467 or e-mail me at terrylegan@hotmail.com.

Terry Legan is president of Auto Mission, which he directs and manages. He also co-manages Mission Makeover Inc., which was founded by his wife, Sherry. To learn more about Auto Mission and what it is trying to accomplish, go to the AutoInc. Web site (www.AutoInc.org), click on back issues, and look for the story titled "AutoMission: Turning Wrenches, Turning Lives" that was in the October 2004 issue..