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Leelanau County Summer Laundry Project
Leelanau County, Michigan has had a Laundry Project during the regular school year since 2004. The program originated to address the problem of children coming to school in dirty clothes. This resulted in social challenges, problems focusing on education, health issues, and referrals to Child Protective Services for investigation into potential abuse or neglect.
The Laundry Project is simple: twice a month from September through early June, the owner of the Suttons Bay Laundromat provides the program exclusive use of the facility from 8 am to noon. ANY individual or family in need is welcome to bring their laundry, which they can do at no charge. The project covers all costs.
We need to start a summer program!
Our neighbors need clean clothes, bedding, and towels all year round, not just during the normal school year! They still need to be presentable for jobs and job interviews. Kids still need to go to daycare.
BOTH our permanent resident families and our seasonal working families need our help in the summer!
In 2013, 1,585 migrant farmworkers came to Leelanau County. Including their non-farmworking family members, 3,042 migrant family members were here.
Leelanau County has 26 licensed seasonal farmworker camps, capable of housing up to 732 people, or slightly less than 25% of the total seasonal farmworker population. We don't know what laundry facilities those living in the community may have.
State and federal regulations for licensed farmworker camps differ slightly. The minimum state standards for laundry facilities are a double sink with hot and cold running water. Technically, a kitchen sink could meet this requirement. The federal minimum standard calls for one laundry tray or tub for every 30 people, plus either a clothesline or a dryer.
Our farmers are great! Most provide washers and dryers for their housed workers. However, 7 of our 26 licensed camps, or up to nearly 300 workers, do not have on-site access to laundry machines.
Imagine working long hours in our fields and orchards, 6 or 7 days a week, and then having to come home and do laundry by hand and hang it to dry!
Bottom line: the need doesn't just remain the same all year round - it increases in the summertime....
What the summer laundry project provides:
- laundry sessions two times per month for 4 hours
-coins for the washers and dryers
- laundry soap, bleach, dryer sheets
- a small snack
- caring volunteers from the public
- representatives from a variety of social services agencies who can meet people in need where they are and help people discover how to address other needs they may have while they are getting the washing done
- for any and all Leelanau individuals and families in need
Who is managing the project? The Leelanau County Family Coordinating Council manages the school-year Laundry Project through generous support and volunteer leadership from Samaritans' Closet, the Genuine Leelanau Foundation, and many caring individuals and church groups. LCFCC Coordinator Sharon Vreeland is facilitating creation of this separate summer program in conjunction with partners at Telamon Corporation, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Serivices, and other members of the local Migrant Resource Council.
Will you help us help our neighbors? Your cash donation will help us pay for use of the laundry machines and support from laundromat staff, as well as the purchase of some snacks and laundry products as needed. We are also glad to accept donations of laundry soap and dryer sheets.
THANK YOU!
Leelanau County, Michigan has had a Laundry Project during the regular school year since 2004. The program originated to address the problem of children coming to school in dirty clothes. This resulted in social challenges, problems focusing on education, health issues, and referrals to Child Protective Services for investigation into potential abuse or neglect.
The Laundry Project is simple: twice a month from September through early June, the owner of the Suttons Bay Laundromat provides the program exclusive use of the facility from 8 am to noon. ANY individual or family in need is welcome to bring their laundry, which they can do at no charge. The project covers all costs.
We need to start a summer program!
Our neighbors need clean clothes, bedding, and towels all year round, not just during the normal school year! They still need to be presentable for jobs and job interviews. Kids still need to go to daycare.
BOTH our permanent resident families and our seasonal working families need our help in the summer!
In 2013, 1,585 migrant farmworkers came to Leelanau County. Including their non-farmworking family members, 3,042 migrant family members were here.
Leelanau County has 26 licensed seasonal farmworker camps, capable of housing up to 732 people, or slightly less than 25% of the total seasonal farmworker population. We don't know what laundry facilities those living in the community may have.
State and federal regulations for licensed farmworker camps differ slightly. The minimum state standards for laundry facilities are a double sink with hot and cold running water. Technically, a kitchen sink could meet this requirement. The federal minimum standard calls for one laundry tray or tub for every 30 people, plus either a clothesline or a dryer.
Our farmers are great! Most provide washers and dryers for their housed workers. However, 7 of our 26 licensed camps, or up to nearly 300 workers, do not have on-site access to laundry machines.
Imagine working long hours in our fields and orchards, 6 or 7 days a week, and then having to come home and do laundry by hand and hang it to dry!
Bottom line: the need doesn't just remain the same all year round - it increases in the summertime....
What the summer laundry project provides:
- laundry sessions two times per month for 4 hours
-coins for the washers and dryers
- laundry soap, bleach, dryer sheets
- a small snack
- caring volunteers from the public
- representatives from a variety of social services agencies who can meet people in need where they are and help people discover how to address other needs they may have while they are getting the washing done
- for any and all Leelanau individuals and families in need
Who is managing the project? The Leelanau County Family Coordinating Council manages the school-year Laundry Project through generous support and volunteer leadership from Samaritans' Closet, the Genuine Leelanau Foundation, and many caring individuals and church groups. LCFCC Coordinator Sharon Vreeland is facilitating creation of this separate summer program in conjunction with partners at Telamon Corporation, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Serivices, and other members of the local Migrant Resource Council.
Will you help us help our neighbors? Your cash donation will help us pay for use of the laundry machines and support from laundromat staff, as well as the purchase of some snacks and laundry products as needed. We are also glad to accept donations of laundry soap and dryer sheets.
THANK YOU!