LaundryCares Offers Free Laundry and Literacy Day Events in Florida

Newswise — OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL, March 10, 2023 – The LaundryCares Foundation welcomes the community of Gainesville, Florida, to experience a Free Laundry and Literacy Day event at two laundromat locations throughout the greater Gainesville area on Tuesday, March 28. Guests can enjoy complimentary laundry services and cleaning products plus free food and fun activities for children and adults from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. There is no limit to the amount of clothing and linens that can be laundered – guests can bring as much as they want and wash it for free.

Participating laundromat locations include:

• Fresh Laundry, 3830 SW 13th St., Gainesville, FL 32608
• Wash King, 210 NE 16th Ave., Gainesville, FL 32602

The Fresh Laundry and Wash King locations will include “Family Read, Play, Learn” spaces for children to build language and learning skills in comfortable, engaging, language-rich environments. The “Family Read, Play, Learn” spaces are part of an initiative of the LaundryCares Foundation and Too Small to Fail which together formed the Laundry Literacy Coalition to help support young children’s early language development and help bridge the large child literacy gap across the country. Community members are encouraged to take advantage of the Free Laundry and Literacy Day events on Tuesday, March 28.

Local partners, including librarians from the Alachua County Library, will be onsite at both locations to provide interactive literacy activities and educational resources for families. Children can play educational games, participate in reading activities, and will receive a free book from Scholastic® to take home with them.

“Our organization is dedicated to helping under-resourced neighborhoods by making literacy and learning attainable,” said Dan Naumann, Executive VP, LaundryCares Foundation. “The Free Laundry and Literacy Day events are an important recognition of a growing U.S. population with children and families who often find it challenging to have basic needs met.”

The LaundryCares Foundation works with laundromat owners and community organizations throughout the U.S. to connect communities with literacy resources in safe, clean, and comfortable settings within laundromats. Interested parties can enroll in the LaundryCares Network at no charge to become part of the movement that’s helping to bridge the large child literacy gap at local laundromats in historically excluded communities.

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About the LaundryCares Foundation

The LaundryCares Foundation is dedicated to enriching communities through the coordinated efforts of local businesses, community leaders and individuals to help better the lives of their neighbors. Since 2006, LaundryCares’ three pillars of philanthropy include offering free laundry services, support of key literacy skills in early childhood development, and disaster relief assistance.

The LaundryCares Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Coin Laundry Association (CLA) a national, nonprofit organization, with a membership of more than 300 manufacturers and distributors, and 1,500 owners in the self-service laundry industry. For more information about the LaundryCares Foundation, visit laundrycares.org.

About Too Small to Fail

Too Small to Fail, the early childhood initiative of the Clinton Foundation, promotes early brain and language development by supporting parents and caregivers with tools to talk, read, and sing with their young children from birth. Today, almost 60 percent of children in the United States start kindergarten unprepared, lagging behind their peers in critical language and reading skills. Through partnerships with pediatricians, hospitals, faith-based leaders, community-based organizations, businesses, entertainment industry leaders, and others, Too Small to Fail is meeting parents where they are to help them prepare their children for success in school and beyond. Whether at the pediatrician’s office or the playground, Too Small to Fail aims to make small moments big by creating opportunities for meaningful interactions anytime, anywhere. Learn more at www.toosmall.org.