Laundry Project provides COVID-19 relief for Orlando-area families

Photo: Huebsch Laundry/Yelp (Photo: Huebsch Laundry/Yelp)

ORLANDO, Fla. – A Florida nonprofit made a stop in Orlando to provide laundry services to lower-income families and hospitality workers out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Workers with the Laundry Project, which is organized through Current Initiatives, visited the Laundry Room on Oak Ridge Road Thursday.

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The nonprofit provided money and supplies for loads of laundry to anyone who arrived from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Myrlande Mondestin was one of the first to receive the free laundry service.

"Today's my lucky day," she said. "It's a good thing, because everybody is struggling."

The Laundry Project began in 2008, but events have increased after a COVID-19 relief effort was launched in March.

"For a lot of families, laundry is a luxury rather than a regularity," Current Initiatives president Jason Sowell said. "Laundry becomes a burden for them, through the lens of 'Am I going to buy groceries this week or am I going to do laundry?"

Safety and sanitary guidelines were followed for the event, which required customers to wear a mask and use hand sanitizer.

During the last five months, Sowell said his organization has hosted 60 projects at 25 different laundromats in partnership with city officials, local businesses, churches and individuals.

"We want people to leave the laundry mat feeling more hopeful, feeling better about the world than maybe they did when they came in," he said.

For more details about future events Laundry project events, visit https://laundrybycurrent.org


About the Author:

Mark Lehman became a News 6 reporter in July 2014, but he's been a Central Florida journalist and part of the News 6 team for much longer. While most people are fast asleep in their bed, Mark starts his day overnight by searching for news on the streets of Central Florida.

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