Masks and the Mopars of Fayetteville

While it may sound unusual to most people, the phrase ‘Mopar’ has been around since 1937 to refer to motor parts for Chrysler vehicles. Since then, it has gone on to encompass any Chrysler vehicle amongst car enthusiasts and clubs celebrating everything under the Chrysler umbrella (think Dodge, Plymouth, Jeep). Mopar enthusiasts don’t stop at buying the car. They meet up for photoshoots with their sweet rides, form Chrysler convoys and drive around for solidarity, and watch races (or hold their own) with Mopar vehicles.

One Mopar club hailing from Fayetteville, North Carolina doesn’t limit their group activities to photos and rides. The Mopars of Fayetteville took their shared interest in all things Chrysler and put their cars to good use. When they aren’t taking drives together or working on their vehicles, they’re organizing food drives and fundraisers. Founded in 2015 by a former combat veteran, the group now boasts over 600 members on Facebook with around 20-25 active members.

The Mopars of Fayetteville showing off their new custom mask. Photo courtesy of Cookie Brice.

As many members are military veterans or active-duty soldiers, the Mopars of Fayetteville focus on activities and opportunities to support other veterans or currently deployed soldiers. In the five years since the club’s inception, they have organized care package drives for disabled veterans, donated hotel rooms to homeless veterans during the winter, and mailed care packages to troops overseas.

Even beyond helping out former and current soldiers, the club gives back to the local community. They donate proceeds from their car shows to local fire and police stations and put together back-to-school supply drives to provide school supplies to students in need. Most recently they sponsored four college freshmen in the Cumberland County area and used their Mopar vehicles to hand-deliver resources. The students were thrilled to see the cars and receive the donations.

For such an active group, COVID-19 threw the brakes on many of their plans. While the club members can stay safely distant in their own cars while driving together, the Mopars of Fayetteville were used to gathering together for their community service and for socializing. Says club president Cookie Brice, “We are like family. We have dinner together, we do mods on our vehicles together. We enjoy celebrating each other’s accomplishments and even lift each other up in tragedy. We do a lot together but COVID has definitely put a wrench in how we normally operate. We cannot run the risk of members getting sick.”

While the Mopars of Fayetteville keep up with one another online, seeing each other in person still plays a huge part in their club’s success. It made sense for the members to prioritize social distance rules and to wear masks if they were going to see one another in safe settings since they could still do events like car meetups. After seeing an ad for Custom Ink online,  Cookie decided to create custom masks. They already had a logo—they just needed an easy way to print it on a mask.

The Mopars of Fayetteville mask looks slick with their logo.

“We love custom gear! We have shirts, hats, hoodies, towels & now masks!” explains Cookie. With Custom Ink’s Design Lab, the club was able to add their own logo (a skull and pistons above “MOPARS OF FAYETTEVILLE” text) onto the masks; when Cookie had questions, a quick phone call to Custom Ink ensured that the process was a smooth ride the whole way through. The matching masks were a huge hit with the group. “We love it. It sets us apart from others,” says Cookie.

Once the custom masks arrived, the Mopars of Fayetteville even created an event around distributing them to the club members. After members met up to don their masks and take photos to commemorate the occasion, they each got into their separate Chrysler vehicle and drove around the city.

With the arrival of the masks, the Mopars of Fayetteville have been able to continue many of their meetups and events in a safer and more stylish way. Most recently they made a $1,000 dollar donation to the Cape Fear Valley COVID Relief fund. When presenting the oversized check to the nonprofit, Cookie and the club members were all wearing matching shirts and masks with their logos. What a great way to represent the club! Thanks to their new custom masks, the Mopars of Fayetteville aren’t letting the pandemic slow them down.

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