A labor of love
January 24, 2012
A Laundry Love Project sign. Photo by Daniel Cura.
Former youth pastor Jason Sowell loves giving back to the community. Along with many others, he’s able to accomplish just that through Current of Tampa Bay, Inc.’s Laundry Love Project.
Sowell, front right, with Laundry Love Project team members and children from the Sulphur Springs community at Saturday's event. Image courtesy of Current of Tampa Bay.
Creative Loafing Best of the Bay 2011 winner for “Best Young Hopefuls,” Current is a non-profit founded by Sowell with a mission statement that reads: “To educate young adults on current social initiatives and mobilize them to bring about change.”
The Laundry Love Project is one of the organization’s biggest ongoing efforts that provides laundry services for low-income families by supplying quarters, detergent, fabric softener, and even entertainment for kids.
Sowell said young adults can change the world in so many ways and they have so much influence. But sometimes they struggle to understand and figure out how to positively use their influences.
Instead of just discussing opportunities that can make a positive impact in society, Sowell showed fellow humanitarians what could be done by taking a group of University of South Florida college students to Los Angeles, Calif., to work alongside two local organizations: Faceless International and Laundry Love Project creators, Just One.
Current’s first volunteer project in California was to help homeless people with their laundry. This allowed the students insight into the struggles of the homeless community, and also gave them the opportunity to put their mission into action. They provided the quarters, detergent, and clean laundry bags. It was during this initiative that Sowell thought of the needs in the Tampa Bay Area, hoping to make the LLP local.
Laundry Love Project in Ybor on June 19, 2010. Photo by Daniel Cura.
With the blessing of Just One, Sowell returned to Tampa Bay and in the summer of 2009 he launched the first Laundry Love Project at Big Wash Coin Laundry in Sulphur Springs. Having done ministry work in and around Tampa, Sowell chose Sulphur Springs believing it to be one of the neediest communities in the area.
This past Saturday, Jan. 21, marked the first LLP of 2012. Held at 908 E. Waters Ave. in Tampa, Current and the Starbucks at 502 E. Hillsborough Ave. hosted 18 families and completed roughly 160 loads of laundry.
Sowell said that finding the right laundromat with supportive owner helps the project’s success. The three things he looks for in a laundromat are: space (large enough to house at least 15 families), working machines, and cleanliness. This location has been successful for the last two years and is the anchor location for LLP Tampa.
The owner has been on hand for every event in case any mechanical difficulties arise, and he supplies soft drinks and water for the families and volunteers. He even gives back to Current by returning a portion of the funds spent during the project. With Big Wash Coin Laundry’s owner one of Current’s biggest advocates, the organization can go to any of the laundromat’s sister locations to hold a LLP.
Recent USF graduate and active Current member Daniel Cura shares in a joyous moment at the 2010 Las Vegas Christmas Laundry Love Project. Image courtesy of Current of Tampa Bay.
Outside of Tampa, Current adopted Las Vegas, Nev., in 2009 as its signature mission and returns every year during Christmas to host a LLP. In 2010, Malone University student Corey Easterday garnered a relationship with Sowell and began the first LLP in Canton, Ohio. In 2011 Easterday held 13 events. Now a graduate of Malone, he has officially opened a branch of Current in Canton and continues the Laundry Love tradition.
In the next few months Tallahassee will have a chance to share the love. Casey Bean, a Florida State University student responsible for community outreach with his fraternity, will spring into action with his first LLP.
Since its inception in 2008, Current volunteers have serviced communities in Brooksville, Ybor City, Leesburg, Tarpon Springs, Seffner, Wesley Chapel, Jacksonville, and Orlando with their LLP.
Some people view clean clothes and linens as an easily attainable necessity, whereas others view it as an unaffordable option.
Sowell said Current wants to show people that they are loved by meeting a basic and tangible need.
For more information on the Laundry Love Project, or to learn how to to donate or become a volunteer, please visit http://www.laundrybycurrent.org.
For more information on Current, please visit http://engagethecurrent.org.
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