BY BETH SNELLER
Daily Herald Staff Writer

It's hard for many people to grasp the concept of a completely free service.

So when Jeff Bergeron tells a school organization about his car wash's mobile charity van, his listeners often have a hard time believing he doesn't request any money in exchange for his services.

"People always ask every possible question, because they assume there's a catch," he said.

But there really isn't. All summer, the Naperville car wash owner has been lugging around a van full of towels, soap and other car-washing paraphernalia so local not-for-profits can run a fund-raiser.

It's his way of giving back to the community.

The Naperville native's idea for a mobile car wash started all the way back when he graduated form Naperville Central High School in 1986. He and a group of friends decided they wanted to travel across the country, but they needed a way to raise the money.

So they loaded their van with a vacuum, sprayer, generator, chemicals, towels and 55-gallon water tank, and offered to wash cares for only wherever the went.

"We were selling car washes basically to anyone who wanted to buy them," Bergeron Said. "We'd use the money to continue the adventure."

Bergeron ended up becoming the manager of a local car wash, then eventually opened two facilities himself - Brighton Car Wash and Detailing Center on 75th street and Brighton Express Double Car Wash on Ogden Avenue.

In recent years, he said, more and more groups have asked if they can raise a little money by towel-drying cars at one of his facilities.

Bergeron usually can't accommodate those groups, but their request gave him the idea for the charity van.

Since May, he's been spending almost every weekend running car washes at local gas stations, and grocery stores, helping cheerleading squads, bands and Scout troops raise money. To date, he and his van-filled with 1,500 towels-have helped with 18 car washes, and they have seven more scheduled.

"This thing is snowballing so big, I can already tell I'm going to have to hire somebody next year to run it," Bergeron Said

But for this year at least, when a group requests the services of the mobile car wash, it can be sure the Car Wash King himself will be showing up in person to help out.

"It takes time, but I have time to do it," Bergeron Said.

If you want more information on how to schedule a car wash call Brighton Car Wash at 630.355.0588