As a NYC educator I have seen first hand the devastation of urban poverty on children and their families. A medium load of laundry in a laundromat cost approximately $3.50. Take that amount and multiply it by the number of family members per week, absence of housing that allows washers, cost of detergent, lack of many outfits or school uniforms and parent work hours and suddenly washing clothes in school is a lightbulb moment. I applaud this experiment and hope it spreads to other areas of the country. Something as simple as clean clothes can make a child feel special and cared for.

I applaud Whirlpools involvement in this.

Children that go to school well groomed do better academically and socially. Seems like someone gets this.

I'm ashamed to say that I had never even thought that this might be an issue. But it makes perfect sense - the article mentions that some of the children come from very tough backgrounds where I'm sure laundry isn't anywhere near the list of priorities... But everyone deserves to be able to wear clean clothes and sleep on clean sheets. I also hope this program grows and spreads, and how great of Whirlpool to think of this.

I'm also curious who is actually doing the laundry and running the machines. The first photo has a booklet with illustrated instructions - wouldn't it be great if the kids were taught to operate the washers?

Recordaras it is not something to be ashamed of. If you thankfully haven't experienced the depth of poverty why would you even think of laundry as a hurtle to be overcome. I have worked in some of the poorest areas of NYC supporting and coaching teachers and find that most have no idea what families day to day lives are like.

I have had the honor of visiting some of these families in their homes and am always overwhelmed by their tenacity and grit in their efforts to help their families survive. Currently we offer free breakfast to anyone under 18 maybe we should install free laundromats at schools and community centers. One less stress for everyone involved.

I grew up in a very mixed economic area in Des Moines, Iowa. When I was 10, in the early 60's, my friend and I went with an adult neighbor to deliver catechism material to the poor area of town. What I saw impacted me to this day. When I went to high school, there were kids that attended from that same neighborhood that never bathed and never washed their clothes. They were TEASED to no end by a select number of individuals. This was a large high school. To continue to attend school under those conditions is something to applaud! To have clean clothes instead would be a real blessing.

This is a wonderful project!

Thanks for sharing this story!

Wonderful story!