Taking a look around the vast parking lot filled with cars of all kinds, one might wonder how the colorful array of vehicles came to be. Through the crowd of people gathered for this event, chatter bubbles about a raffle for a good cause. It might be a surprise to discover this all was put together by a 16-year-old and his friend.
Lincoln Southeast High School sophomore Jackson Bills, and his friend, Gavin Rehmer from Southwest High School, spend some of their free time organizing car meets that also fundraise for various causes. While juggling being a busy student, he also makes calls, promotes the meets, and works hard to make sure his nonprofit is accurately represented by the people working with him.
Bills started this project last January with Rehmer and has been growing it since. He has been fascinated by cars since he was young, so when he jumped into doing car meets it was mostly a hobby.
“It was kind of scandalous,” Bills said. “We kind of just said ‘let’s do it’.”
The first meet was organized but it wasn’t the turnout they had expected. They had expected about 40 people to show up but were happily surprised when about 200 showed up.
The non-profit was started just as car meets, but after they first gathered such a big group, Bills and Rehmer decided that “if we can get that many people, we might as well raise money”.
“It was just crazy to me that I can get that many people together,” Bills said.
Since that amazing turnout, Bills has worked on building the nonprofit year long.
He said that it has been challenging to build it considering that not many people know him. He has promoted it through social media and through word of mouth. Since he drives often and meets new people, he tells the people he meets about it.
They contact companies that give them items to raffle off at their car meets for different non-profit organizations. The choice in the organization is made by a vote of their followers. Bills normally donates to people experiencing homelessness, The Capital Humane Society and is working on donating to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
This is all done after Bills goes to school but he says it doesn’t take up too much of his time. He would like to continue to grow it for as long as he can and wants to “try to put as much effort as I can into this”. The only thing stopping him has been cold weather, which he tries to avoid.
As one might expect for a 16-year-old, there have been some struggles along the way since he is in charge and in a position of authority. Not only is it difficult to stay professional with people his age working with him, but also commanding respect from skeptical adults has been tough.
“When [the teenagers] start doing behaviors that I don’t want to represent my company, I have to just be more strict with that and tell them that they can’t be here doing that if they want to stay.”
One thing that helps him though, is that he is a “natural leader,” which helps him earn respect from adults who either don’t take him seriously at first or who are surprised by how young he is.
Even though there have been struggles along the way, overall, creating his nonprofit has changed Bills for the better.
“I think it’s definitely made me work harder,” Bills said. “It shows me what I can get out of things if I work hard, so I definitely push myself more.”
