The Covington Helps Out with “Laundry Love”

“If I had clean clothes, I think people would treat me like a human being.”

This statement was made by a homeless gentleman named T-Bone ten years ago in Ventura County. Since that time, a network of Laundry Love projects has been developed across the nation. Nonprofit groups concerned about those living in poverty partner with laundromat owners. Once a month, participants are invited to do their laundry for free. Volunteers provide detergent, quarters and company. Sometimes they even bring activities for the kids and snacks for all.

This great project is alive and well in Lake Forest, CA, thanks in part to the generosity of Covington residents and the presence of Covington Chaplain, Fr. Rick Byrum. If you show up at the Sparklean Laundromat on the first Wednesday of the month, you will see upwards of 30 families waiting patiently to wash their clothes. On a recent Wednesday night, 150 loads of laundry were washed and many bags of donated clothing were distributed. There was also free pizza and dozens of candy-packed Easter eggs were distributed by volunteers.

In Lake Forest, Laundry Love happens thanks to Randy Simmons, the parishioners of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Santa Margarita, and the generosity of Covington residents. Find a Laundry Love project near you at www.laundrylove.org or start one yourself.

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