On December 10, the LaundryCares Foundation hosted a Free Laundry & Literacy Day in Charlotte, N.C. The event, held in collaboration with Too Small to Fail, took place from 1:00-6:00 p.m. at The Laundry Room.
The Free Laundry & Literacy Day provided free laundry services and cleaning products to local residents, as well as free food and fun, educational activities for the children. Laundromat owners, distributors, manufacturer employees and local community members volunteered to help facilitate this event.
Guests were invited to bring an unlimited amount of laundry to the event. All in all, 103 local families were served – and 14,101 pounds of free laundry were processed.
As part of this Free Laundry & Literacy Day, the ribbon was cut on a new LaundryCares Family Read, Play & Learn Center within the laundromat. These early childhood literacy spaces provide comfortable seating, along with high-quality books, toys and other materials designed to help parents engage in learning-rich interactions with their children during laundry time.
Similar learning spaces have been launched in laundromats across the nation through the Laundry Literacy Coalition – a partnership between LaundryCares and Too Small to Fail.
In Charlotte, while the guests did their laundry, the kids in attendance were able to engage in early literacy activities with librarians from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library, as well as trying their hands at puppet-making with master puppeteer Marilyn Price. In addition, 205 free children’s books were distributed to families at this event.
“The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library was pleased to partner with the LaundryCares Foundation to bring critical early learning into everyday spaces like the laundromat,” explained Marcellus Turner, CEO of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library System. “We believe in the power of early learning and are excited at this disruptive and effective effort to increase early literacy for our youngest children and their families.”
Other organizations at the Free Laundry & Literacy Day in Charlotte included:
- Healthy Blue
- MECK Pre-K
- Charlotte Bilingual Preschool
- Children of the World Learning Center
- Children’s Developmental Service Agency
- CMPD Storytime Traveler
- BCDI
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library – Smart Start of Mecklenburg County
- Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation-Mobile Rec Unit
- Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services
- Loaves and Fishes
- Sir Purr, NBA mascot
- Carolina Panthers
“Everyone was excited to help this new store open its doors and begin giving back to the neighborhood it will serve,” said Dan Naumann, executive vice president of the LaundryCares Foundation. “We’re especially grateful for the installation of the new Family Read, Play & Learn space here – it’s perfect for this location.”
