By Jennifer Theurer

Having clean clothes becomes a luxury when living arrangements change or washing machines break down.

That’s when Laundry Love helps empty the hampers of anyone in need. On the first Wednesday of every month at the laundromat in Concordia, Chelsea Hake, Information and Referral Coordinator for OCCK, Inc., provides free use of washers and dryers to locals or those just passing through the area.

“There are no stipulations at all,” Hake said. “It doesn’t matter how many loads they have. They don’t even really have to be a member of the community. We’ve had some people kind of passing through use it as well.”

Hake heard about the Laundry Love program two years ago and with her supervisor’s approval decided to bring the service to her area of northern Kansas.

“They come in. We give them quarters to do their laundry. We also provide detergent if it’s needed,” she said.

Providing the gift of clean clothes takes a lot of resources but Hake’s group has rinsed away that issue as well.

“We actually just applied for a community foundation grant here in Concordia,” she said. “We received $700 for that, and it was strictly just for the quarters to do the laundry. The detergent is provided through the Laundry Love LLC program, which is based out of Oregon.”

Hake’s group is thinking about changing Laundry Love’s schedule once the weather warms up but if they go ahead with that updates will be posted on OCCK Inc.’s Facebook page.