Following the destructive double whammy of Helene and Milton, Tampa-based nonprofit Current Initiatives has been busy. The nonprofit’s Laundry Project, which transforms laundromats into community centers for a day to provide free laundry services to low-income families, has worked with partners like the City of Tampa and the Tampa Bay Rays to meet the increased community need.
Current Initiatives launched in Tampa approximately 15 years ago with a mission to mobilize individuals to become “hope dealers” in their local community. The Laundry Project is their oldest initiative. But it has never seen a stretch like the last month.
By the end of October, Laundry Project volunteers had worked 22 hurricane relief free-laundry events at 17 Tampa Bay area laundromats helping nearly 3,000 peop
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Current InitiativesLaundry Project volunteers help community members with their wash and temporarily transform laundromats into community centers le wash almost 80,000 pounds of clothes. By offering free laundry services, the nonprofit hopes to relieve the financial burden so families and individuals impacted by the hurricanes can spend their money on other needs while recovering from the storms.
“Families shouldn’t have to worry about that money when they’re already worried about things like ‘I don't know how to pay for my car that's been flooded,’” says Current Initiatives founder and President Jason Sowell.
Sowell recalls one woman who came to the Laundry Project for help after her home was destroyed in the storm.
“The one thing that reminded her of her home was her Tampa Bay Buccaneers blanket,” he says. “She got to wash it and it was so meaningful for her because it gave her hope.”
Meaningful merch
Now, the Laundry Project has entered another partnership to meet the community need, working with Tampa’s Underoath and several other rock bands and musicians to launch Band Together Relief, an online pop-up shop featuring limited edition merchandise from the acts, with 100 percent of the profits going to hurricane relief efforts.
In addition to Underoath, Ocala-bred A Day to Remember, Winter-Haven-born alt-rock band Anberlin, California metalcore band The Ghost Inside, New York rock musician Des Rocs, Texas metalcore band Memphis May Fire, Tyler Hubbard of Florida-Georgia Line and South Carolina-bred, Seattle-based post-hardcore band Emery are part of the fundraising effort.
The partnership between Current Initiatives and the eight music acts came together when Underoath guitarist Timothy McTague and Joel J. Cook, the band’s creative director, reached out to Sowell looking for a chance to do good in the community.
A portion of the proceeds from the pop-up shop goes to the Laundry Project and a portion goes to the
National Independent Venue Foundation Emergency Relief Fund, which provides support to music venues and their workers who were affected by the hurricanes.
Fans who want to support the cause can go to the
Band Together Relief website to purchase exclusive merch. A new round of limited edition merchandise featuring different bands is expected to drop in the coming weeks. With continued support, the initiative hopes to remind us how little, overlooked things like laundry can make a huge impact.
“Laundry is not something you think about until your washer or dryer breaks and then you
have to think about it,” Sowell says. “It can be life-changing, just the ability to send your kids to school with clean clothes.
For more information, go to Laundry Project
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