Cool Cars for Kids

On May 4th – 6th, Yaeger employees gathered with groups across the Metro to compete in the Geeks vs. Geeks Build Event. LEARN Science & Math Club, a nonprofit program, spearheaded the event to help build custom electric cars for local kids with limited mobility. 12 teams competed in this year’s event with more than 80 volunteers in total. Teams included corporate teams and high school robotics teams.

Aaron Rumple, Jessica Gonzales, and Jay Watters led the Yaeger team which helped customize a car for our friend, Morgan. The team worked with Morgan’s father to create one of the standard-type vehicles. These cars are built for kids who have movement limitations which require them to operate the vehicle with their upper body. The cars are customized with a button on the steering wheel for operation, LED lighting, a seat with harness straps, special tires, and a long-lasting battery.

Other teams customized the ride-on-cars specially fitted for kids with limited mobility of their upper body, requiring unique controls for operation and controls for an adult to assist remotely.

Mark One Electric graciously hosted the event which was set up Friday evening. Teams built the cars throughout the day on Saturday, and the kids were able to start driving their cars on Sunday. Chicken N Pickle provided the venue for the test drive event and fueled the teams with food during the build weekend.

Read more about adapting toy cars here.