COLUMBUS, Ohio — Going to the pump has become one of the most expensive things on Molly Meek’s to-do list.
Forty to fifty dollars used to fill Molly Meek’s gas tank, but now that barely gets her to half a tank. In June of 2020, a gallon of gas averaged $2.27, according to AAA. That price jumped a little less than a dollar in 2021, averaging $3.15. In June, gas reached over $5.
Meek said she can barely get by.
“I feel like I’m just getting by when I can, to just keep it at bay, because it’s just been insane,” said Meek.
While $40 here and there can get her around Columbus, she has no choice but to fill up her tank when visiting her boyfriend, who lives in Detroit. She used to take trips once a week or biweekly, but now that it costs nearly $80 to fill her tank, things have gotten hard.
“I knew that would impact the amount of time that I would be able to go there, the amount of time I was going to be able to spend with him and would just very much impact my relationship and the amount of time we’re going to be able to see each other since we’re long distance,” said Meek.
When Meek isn’t in Detroit, you can find her driving to her salon in Columbus’ short north. As a small business owner, it’s not just costing her more for gas, goods across the board are costing more. Meek said it’s hard for business owners to keep up professionally and personally.
“It put a strain on my personal life very much, and I’ve had to tap into savings and had to drain a little bit of it because it’s just what I have to do to make sure these doors stay open,” said Meek.
A small business owner and single mother, Meek doesn’t have much time, so she started using Vohnt. Vohnt is a local car service that details and maintains your car without you ever having to leave your home or job. They started their business during the pandemic, and as a way to say thank you to their customers for supporting them during uncertain times, they decided to give some of their customers free tanks of gas.
“With gas prices rising so recently we figured that celebrating our anniversary by giving away the gas would be a great way to help out our customers,” said David Antle with Vohnt. “We want to let them know we appreciate them and just make people’s day.”
Meek had called Vohnt to pick up her car for routine maintenance before a trip to Detroit, but she had no idea that she’d be one of the lucky customers to receive a free fill-up. She said that this act of kindness made her feel a little more hopeful about the world.
“I just felt like, wow, humanity is still out there. It was just such a moment. Itwas amazing,” said Meek.
