Bradenton Residents Receive Free Laundry Service From Generous Organizations

Editor's Note: This article is repurposed with permission from SNN News and Annette Gutierrez.

BRADENTON (WSNN) - Several organizations on the Suncoast step up to help people in the community with their laundry service.

Having clean clothes isn't cheap. It can be a financial burden for some families.

"It's hard, it's extremely hard," Manatee County Resident Andrea Davis said.

This is the reason why the Laundry Project is providing funds and cleaning items for people in need across the nation. The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading sponsored Saturday's pop-up event at Friendly City Laundry in Bradenton.

"We thought that this would be a great way to connect with the community and meet the people we are most trying to serve," Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading's Director Beth Duda said.

But the help didn't stop there. All Faiths Food Bank provided food and snacks for those who suffer from food insecurity. Volunteers with other organizations were prepared to help wash and dry about 358 loads of laundry.

"This is a wonderful way for all of these organizations to come together and give back to the community where we all live and work," Duda said.

Andrea Davis goes to this local laundromat every week to clean the clothes for her family, costing her, on average, more than 40-dollars a week on her laundry.

"Every little bit helps, especially with inflation right now," Davis said.

Davis says the COVID-19 impact, along with the inflation, has left her family crunching numbers.

"We squeeze where we have to and make the best of it," Davis said.

But you can't squeeze the laundry out of the equation.

"That has to be done. They have to have clean clothes," Davis said.

Not only is it an opportunity for families in need to save at the laundromat, but it's also an opportunity for families to bond with their kids during storytime.

"The single most powerful thing that you can do to strengthen literacy is to make sure your children develop a love of learning and reading," Duda said.

"It means the world," Davis said. "I want them to go further than what I've ever done."

The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading helps children in elementary school to succeed in life by ensuring they read on grade level.

To date, the Laundry Project has washed nearly 223,300 loads of laundry for over 21,800 families in 849 projects in 53 cities across the country.