Jane and Scott Wolfe, who own Wash World<\/a> laundromat in New Orleans, are not novices when it comes to incorporating a literacy theme into their business ventures.<\/p>\n In fact, the Wolfes also operate Melba\u2019s<\/a>, a po\u2019 boy take-out restaurant located adjacent to their vended laundry business. And Melba\u2019s has become quite famous for more than just its food. The restaurant has initiated a community awareness literacy project that regularly features a \u201cGift of Literature Day,\u201d on which 100 free copies of a featured author\u2019s signed book are handed out to customers.<\/p>\n For the first hour of these events, the guest author is at Melba\u2019s either in person or via Zoom to greet those who come through the book line.<\/p>\n Therefore, when the couple learned about the LaundryCares Foundation and discovered they could add a literacy-rich, early childhood learning space to Wash World, they jumped at the opportunity.<\/p>\n Jane distinctly recalls one of her first interactions with a child in the laundromat\u2019s newly installed Family Read, Play and Learn Center.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll always remember watching a child draw on the chalkboard, as he had X\u2019s and O\u2019s everywhere,\u201d said Jane, who also teaches world religions at the University of Holy Cross and the Tulane School of Professional Advancement. \u201cEventually, I asked him, \u2018What are you drawing?\u2019 Excitedly, he replied, \u2018I\u2019m playing coach!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the moment when I truly realized that this isn\u2019t just a reading center \u2013 it\u2019s an imaginative teaching ground as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Wolfe recently shared her thoughts on early childhood literacy, as well as the value of the LaundryCares\u2019 RPL Center, with PlanetLaundry<\/em>:<\/p>\n How has installing a Family Read, Play and Learn Center impacted your store and its operations?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s been easy for our staff to incorporate the upkeep of this space into their day-to-day operation. Basically, you just need to keep the books straight and the table cleaned.<\/p>\n Approximately how many families and children benefit from this literacy- and learning-focused area?<\/strong><\/p>\n Every month, 200 families benefit from our literacy\/learning area. However, the tentacles of the space go much deeper. All customers benefit from the space, as the children are not running around the store doing nothing. The literacy space holds the kids\u2019 attention. Therefore, the entire laundromat is a more peaceful place.<\/p>\n How has the RPL Center helped your business \u2013 both tangibly and intangibly?<\/strong><\/p>\n With regard to corporate social responsibility, I believe that, when you walk into a business, you should feel what it\u2019s doing. The special literacy space at Wash World fuels a human emotion that knows reading is important. I\u2019m grateful to the LaundryCares Foundation for helping us to create the most beautiful feeling inside our laundromat business.<\/p>\n How has this early childhood literacy space affected the community\u2019s attitude toward your laundry business?<\/strong><\/p>\n When a customer without children takes time to tell you how good the space is for kids and parents, you know you\u2019ve hit a home run.<\/p>\n All these years I\u2019ve been in business, and I\u2019ve never had the academic world turn its head toward my business. But the academic community is especially pleased with this literacy space we\u2019ve created. That\u2019s probably what I\u2019ve noticed most of all \u2013 teachers, librarians, professors, social workers and psychologists have all voiced their positive approval of what we\u2019re doing at Wash World.<\/p>\n How does Wash World\u2019s literacy space complement Melba\u2019s literary events?<\/strong><\/p>\n The literacy initiative of the LaundryCares Foundation pushed me to look deeper into the aspects of our po\u2019 boy business, to think about how can I teach to the 30,000 customers walking through Melba\u2019s doors every month.<\/p>\n LaundryCares opened my eyes, and I\u2019m wholeheartedly convinced that the book-signing events at Melba\u2019s and the RPL Center in Wash World work in concert with one another \u2013 just like a fine gumbo.<\/p>\n And this entire literacy format is opening the eyes of fellow businesspeople toward what a good business is capable of doing for the community it serves.<\/p>\n What would you say to store owners who may still be on the fence about installing an RPL Center in their laundromats?<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the last 41 years in the retail industry, we\u2019ve bought and sold many locations. And, with every location, I\u2019ve reflected on what we\u2019ve learned. One thing I know for certain is that installing the LaundryCares\u2019 RPL Center has been one of the best business decisions I\u2019ve ever made in my life.<\/p>\n Business is not all about the money. It\u2019s about what you\u2019re doing inside the community in which you serve. Adding the literacy space is a decision you will never regret. I only wish we had done it sooner.<\/p>\n [For more information about the LaundryCares Foundation, its programs for store owners and how to get involved, contact Dan Naumann at: dan@laundrycares.org<\/a>; or visit the organization\u2019s website at: www.laundrycares.org<\/a>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Literacy Theme Runs Throughout Famed New Orleans Laundromat\/Restaurant Combo Jane and Scott Wolfe, who own Wash World laundromat in New Orleans, are not novices when it comes to incorporating a literacy theme into their business ventures. In fact, the Wolfes also operate Melba\u2019s, a po\u2019 boy take-out restaurant located adjacent to their vended laundry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1230,"featured_media":10307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98,243,244,245,9351],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-articles","category-feature-1","category-feature-2","category-feature-3","category-highlights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10308,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10306\/revisions\/10308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetlaundry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}