Laundry Love is new outreach of Grace UCC

Greencastle is now one of about 60 communities across the country with Laundry Love thanks to Grace United Church of Christ.

The free program started March 27 and is offered from 5 to 9 p.m. the last Tuesday of the month at the Laundry Spot, 111 N. Carlisle St. The next session will be April 24.

The program aims to eliminate the financial burden of washing and drying clothes so families and individuals can spend their money on other necessities like food, shelter and medicine.

Two loads per person or four per family are washed and dried for free. Soap, bleach and dryer sheets also are provided.

Jessica Scott, accompanied by daughters Lillian, 10, and Georgina, 2, was one of the first people to "feel the love."

She was doing laundry earlier in the day on March 27, when Mike Evans, a member of the church, told her about Laundry Love.

Scott recently lost her job and her dryer broke so she decided to take advantage of the program.

Georgina helps at home and was happy to transfer laundry from the wheeled basket to a floor-level dryer that was just her height. She announced each piece of clothing and who in the family it belongs to as she made the move.

"We are taking our love outside the walls of our church and bringing it to people in a practical way," said Pastor Brenda Clark.

Since the first Laundry Love project opened in California in 2002, dozens of churches, mosques and synagogues in over 60 cities have joined in. The program provides economic relief for people who need it most. Sometimes Laundry Love is the only way people can wash their clothes.