JOPLIN, Mo. —
As piles of sticky, damp clothes were unloaded from cars, the smell of laundry detergent and fabric softener was a welcome relief to tornado victims looking for something as simple as having clean clothes.
Established in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, Tide’s Loads of Hope truck, equipped with washers and dryers, has been visiting the sites of disasters to offer displaced residents a place to have some laundry washed, free of charge.
“Tide wanted to come up with something simple so they could help,” said Ryan Laster, field manager for Loads of Hope.
Since then, Loads of Hope has washed more than 44,000 loads of laundry at disaster sites.
Set up Thursday morning in the parking lot of Wal-Mart on Seventh Street, the Loads of Hope staff began collecting soiled laundry from Joplin residents affected by Sunday’s tornado.
People can drop off two loads of laundry. It will be numbered, washed, dried, folded and packaged for pickup.
Jaanna Dunn got married Saturday, and though she found her wedding dress safe and unharmed in the ruins of her apartment, most of her clothes and her family’s wardrobe were not as lucky. She and her husband picked through the heap of wet, particle board-covered clothing in their car, salvaging what they could to have washed by Loads of Hope.
“It’s just a blessing,” Dunn said, tossing ruined ties to the ground. “We’ve had tons of people offer us more, and more and more. It’s really touching.”
Dan Bookmiller, who has traveled with Loads of Hope before, said Thursday’s turnout was one of the largest he’s seen.
“I’ve never seen a quarter of this many people show up on the first day,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a line this long, ever.”
More than 300 loads of laundry had been dropped off in the first two hours. Those dropping off laundry were told to expect to pick up their clothes on Saturday morning.
Shaniko Montgomery dropped off loads of her children’s jeans and the still-wet clothes she had been wearing while picking through the remains of her house, saying simply: “We stink.”
As he was folding a pink towel, Laster said doing laundry for those in need is “bittersweet.”
“I enjoy it quite a bit,” he said.
Loads of Hope will be in Joplin until Monday. The Duracell Power Relief Trailer, providing cellphone charging and Internet access, will be in town until Tuesday.
Local News
Related Photos
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John Russell, with Tide’s Loads of Hope, attends to laundry chores Thursday for victims of Joplin’s tornado disaster. The Loads of Hope truck will be offer free laundry service through Monday at the Seventh Street Wal-Mart lot. GLOBE | ROGER NOMER
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RESOURCE: Loads of Hope does laundry for those in need
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